Legal Services
For legal advice or support with a legal challenge, districts count on TASB Legal Services. Our attorneys specialize in public school issues and provide counsel to school trustees, administrators, and attorneys daily. Through TASB's toll-free Legal Line (800.580.5345), attorneys provide advice to school district decision makers that supplements legal advice from a district's counsel.
Legal Services attorneys offer in-service training, seminars, publications, and videos on legal topics. They also write and update legal policies and review local policies for school districts, community colleges, and education service centers.
Training is available year-round for trustees, administrators, and staff.
Besides major TASB events, in-depth training is featured at Fall Legal Seminars, Winter Legal Seminars, and the annual Winter Governance and Legal Seminar. In addition, on-site training offers customized sessions on a variety of subjects:
- Open Meetings Act
- Grievances
- Open Records and Record Retention
- Sexual Harassment
- Student Discipline/School Safety
- Drug Testing
- Religion in Schools
Publications on those issues, and many more, are available through the TASB Store (tasb.org/store).
Related Entities
Legal Services administers the Legal Assistance Fund (LAF), created to support districts in the process of defending legal challenges that could affect public schools statewide.
Legal Services also supports the Texas Council of School Attorneys (CSA), which provides a statewide forum on practical legal problems faced by Texas public schools and their attorneys. The council shares information through regular meetings and an e-mail service that connects school attorneys across the state.