Public Education Law

The Underwood Law Firm's Public Education Section represents school districts in the Panhandle and West Texas, junior colleges, and education services centers across the state. With over 90 years of combined public education law experience, the section has the skills necessary to address all legal issues that school districts, colleges, and education services centers encounter. The Underwood Public Education Law Section counsels boards of trustees, superintendents, directors of special education, and other administrators on a wide-range of legal issues, including:

  • Personnel issues, including Title IX, Title VII, whistleblower, civil rights, ADA, sexual harassment, and wrongful discharge
  • Drafting Chapter 21 and non-Chapter 21 contracts
  • Terminations and non-renewals, including board hearings and appeals to the Texas Commissioner of Education
  • Chapter 313 Texas Economic Development Act Agreements (including wind energy agreements)
  • Bond, general and special elections
  • Personnel and student grievances
  • Student discipline
  • Drafting Student Codes of Conduct, Extracurricular Codes of Conduct and Student Drug Testing Policies
  • Special education (including general IDEA compliance, guidance at ARDs, in-house training, due process hearings and TEA complaints)
  • Section 504
  • Voting rights litigation and Department of Justice submissions
  • School construction, including drafting and negotiating contracts related to all aspects of construction
  • Competitive bidding
  • First Amendment issues, including student and employee free speech and prayer in school
  • Litigation, including trial and appellate
  • Immunity, liability and Texas Tort Claims Act
  • Annexation and de-annexation
  • Eminent domain and condemnation
  • School consolidations
  • Bullying
  • Texas Open Meetings Act
  • Texas Public Information Act
  • Federal Education Privacy Rights Act (FERPA)
  • Nepotism, dual office, and other conflicts of interests issues
  • Interpretation of school finance legislation
  • Litigation involving reform of state school finance (Chapter 41)
  • Interpretation of accountability-related issues
  • Drafting and negotiating real estate agreements
  • Drafting and negotiating agreements for privatization of professional services such as busing and special education
  • Drafting contracts and inter-governmental agreements and shared services agreements

The Underwood Law Firm's Public Education Law attorneys are well-equipped to address virtually any issue faced by school districts and other local governmental entities. Our attorneys' numerous years of experience and commitment to excellence ensure exemplary representation.