As the Josephson vs. Archer lawsuit winds down, this site will be converted to “The Legacy of Josephson vs. Archer: Creating a Safe and Ethical School Environment.” Its purpose will be to provide parents, educational professionals, board members and legislators with information about the legal duties, professional responsibilities and moral obligations of school administrators, faculty, staff, and board members to provide …
94 Colleges Investigated Re: Sex Abuse Charges
Prestigious Women’s College Joins List Of 94 Colleges Under Investigation for Failing to Protect Women Who Bring Sexual Abuse Charges 01/07/2015 Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/07/barnard-college-title-ix-investigations_n_6432596.html Summary: Barnard College, a women’s liberal arts school affiliated with Columbia University, joins 93 other universities to come under review by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights over concerns that the schools violated the gender equity …
Boards of Trustees Duty to Adopt Policies Protecting Students
A key principle underlying the Josephson vs. Archer lawsuit was to clarify the responsibility of the Archer Board of Trustees to assure that policies and procedures were adopted and implemented to protect students intentional, negligent or irresponsible harm caused by school administrators, staff, faculty and board members. A new California law (effective January 1, 2015) makes it very clear that, …
Comparing the Archer Board of Trustees and Marlborough’s Board
The commentary, Tale of Two Schools reveals the dramatically different responses of the Archer Board and Head of School to charges of impropriety and the approach taken by the Archer Board of Trustees. While the Marlborough Board conscientiously fulfilled its legal and ethical responsibilities by investigating fully and issuing a public report as did the head of school by voluntarily resigning, Archer’s Board ignored …
A Tale of Two Schools: Marlborough and Archer
A commentary by Michael Josephson. It was the best of responses; it was the worst response. It was a demonstration of accountability; it was a demonstration of irresponsibility. It was a school saying “we’ll make things right”; it was a school saying “we are always right.” It was a leader who put her school first; it was a leader who put herself …
Beware of the Arbitration Trap
Archer, like most other private schools, includes a comprehensive completely one-sided arbitration clause (it only benefits the school) requiring parents to agree to submit any dispute arising under the agreement to a process designed to keep their grievances private and to prevent them from using the court system to prove their claims and provide remedies, including public accountability. The Josephsons …