Public Schools
Attorneys for Public Schools and Districts Across Utah
Our public school attorneys advise more than 30 Utah districts on education law, school financing, and regulatory compliance. Our education attorneys are trusted advisers with decades of experience helping schools navigate legal, financial, and operational challenges. Many of our attorneys are also parents of public-school students, giving us first-hand understanding of how legal decisions affect schools and their communities.
With decades of school law experience, we’ve helped districts resolve employment disputes, funding challenges, and compliance risks.
Key School Services
- Leasing: We help schools secure competitive rates and ideal locations, guiding them through all available options.
- Purchasing: Our attorneys ensure facility purchases are made at fair, arm’s-length prices, which make them sustainable today and in the long term.
- Financing: We’ve helped raise over $500 million in school financings, working closely with underwriters and advisers across the western U.S.
- Refinancing: We negotiate improved terms and unlock access to expansion capital, especially when original loan documents are multipart or restrictive.
- Creative structures: We pioneered the use of USDA and New Markets Tax Credit financing to help eligible schools lower borrowing costs.
All Aspects of School and School District Law
We advise public schools and districts on nearly every aspect of school law, including:
- Utah State School Board relations: Our attorneys maintain strong working relationships that often resolve issues quickly and informally.
- Employment law & benefits: We support school leadership on employee disputes, investigations, harassment claims, collective bargaining, and benefit plan development.
- Immigration: Guidance on hiring foreign-born teachers, enrolling international students, and managing I-9 compliance.
- Separation of church and state: We advise on facility use, religious release time, and equal access issues.
- Open Meeting & Open Records Act compliance: Helping schools understand what must be disclosed and what remains confidential.
- Foreign exchange programs: Ensuring tuition and enrollment practices align with state and federal regulations.
- Conflicts of interest: We help schools comply with disclosure and governance rules when conflicts arise.
- Cell phone tower agreements: Negotiating site leases that create long-term financial benefit.
- Building use policies: Ensuring community events comply with lease, loan, and insurance obligations.
- Board fiduciary duties: Clarifying legal responsibilities and helping boards act in the district’s best interest.
- Online education: Legal counsel for both full-time online schools and traditional schools that offer virtual programs.
- Retirement plan compliance: Advising districts on state and federal plan requirements and resolving notices of non-compliance.
- Insurance and immunity: Preserving sovereign immunity, advising on Utah insurance programs, and defending against litigation.
- Redevelopment agencies: Evaluating tax impacts and negotiating fair terms to protect district revenue.
- Intergovernmental agreements: Structuring long-term contracts with other government bodies to serve district interests.
Our education law attorneys deliver practical, cost-effective solutions to Utah’s public schools, charter schools, and school boards. We’re here to help you focus on what matters most: your students.