Legal Guides

Questions about district legal concerns? Our Legal Guides provide easy-to-digest information on important legal topics for school trustees and administrators. Titles include:

• TASB Legal Services’ Guide to Educator Contracts:  The sixth edition of this popular guide explains educator contracts in plain language. It includes easy-to-use forms for educator contracts and addenda. This publication is a must-have for each school personnel administrator and school attorney.
• The School Official’s Guide to the Texas Open Meetings Act: This book is a valuable resource that answers the most common questions about the Texas Open Meetings Act and explains legal interpretations of the Act by courts and the attorney general. It includes procedures for meetings, an expanded set of sample documents related to meetings for use in your district, helpful tips, and information on act enforcement.
• School Official’s Quick Guide to the Texas Open Meetings Act: This convenient flip chart covers the basics of the Texas Open Meetings Act, including the definition of meeting, exceptions to the definition, posting notices, emergency meetings, closed meeting exceptions, personnel matters, closed meeting procedures, closed meeting records, statutory violations, and references for more information.
• School Official’s Quick Guide to Nepotism and Other Conflicts of Interest: This easy-to-follow flip chart explains the nepotism laws and the exceptions to the nepotism prohibition. It contains two charts to help you figure out which relatives a school district is prohibited from hiring, as well as information on other conflicts of interest that school officials may have and a list of other resources on the topic.
• School Official’s Quick Guide to Grievances: This convenient flip chart covers the basics of the grievance process, including what constitutes a grievance, what policies apply, how to handle late filings, how to involve an attorney, how to prepare for a hearing, and how to conduct a hearing. This Quick Guide even includes an abbreviated grievance hearing script.

These Legal Guides are available for purchase in the TASB Store.