Maintaining Community Amid Conflict
From protests to presidential politics, 2024 is a year of heightened civic challenges and discourse. In this workshop, we will discuss some of the challenging social and political issues coming up on our campuses and review how some independent schools have responded.
Through a legal and risk-management lens, we will discuss:
- Student free speech and protest
- Navigating sensitive political issues
- Challenges from parents
- Pushback to DEIB initiatives
Susan Guerette and Kristin Smith, partners at Fisher Phillips, will review policies that may be helpful to have in place and offer guidance that may enable your faculty and staff to successfully deal with these issues, both in the classroom and on social media.
You’ll hear examples of what has worked for other independent schools that have had to address these difficult social and political issues and learn how they balanced the demands of conflicting constituencies on campus.
This AISNE Insight is intended for the following roles:
- Heads of School
- Chief Business Officers
- Board Chairs and Trustees
- Directors of Communication
- Directors of Advancement
- Directors of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Susan Guerette & Kristin L. Smith are attorneys with Fisher Phillips.
Susan is a partner in the firm’s Philadelphia office and has a national practice representing management on a wide range of labor and employment matters. Susan is also a member of the firm’s Education Practice Group, which represents private educational institutions in employee, student, and board issues. She counsels employers on employment policies, immigration issues and compliance with local, state and federal statutes. She drafts and reviews employer policies and severance agreements and negotiates employee compensation and employment agreements.
Kristin is co-chair of Fisher Phillips’ Education Industry group and works out of the firm’s Houston office. Her practice focuses exclusively on independent and private schools. Kristin assists schools in a variety of areas, including student and employee discipline; faculty, staff and student contract drafting; handbook and policy drafting, implementation, and enforcement; LGBTQ issues, including transgender students and employees; board governance and training; discrimination claims and EEOC charges; administration and faculty training and development; school entanglement in family court proceedings; and, investigations, litigation, arbitration and mediation. Kristin recently presented at AISNE’s Business & Operations Conference.
Thank you to Fisher Phillips for their support of this session and AISNE.
Dates & Venues
Thursday, August 15, 2024
1:00 – 2:00 PM
Presented virtually, on Zoom
Register
AISNE Members: Free of charge
Non-Members: $100/pp
AISNE seeks to create an inclusive learning environment for all. If you have accessibility questions or needs, please contact us at info@aisne.org.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations and transfer requests must be sent via email to info@aisne.org. Cancellations received up to 10 days before the start of the event will receive a 100% refund, less a $100 administrative fee. Transfers of registrations from one person to another are permitted up to 3 business days before the start of the event or the first event of a series of events.
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