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NCSBA Legal Counsel Receives Award

NCSBA Legal Counsel/Director of Policy Allison Schafer was honored as the 2008 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award presented by the Education Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. The award was presented during the section’s annual meeting. Ann Majestic, a former law firm colleague and previous recipient of the award, made the presentation.

Schafer serves as legal counsel and director of policy for the N.C. School Boards Association, a position she has held since 1998. She previously served as an associate (1985-92) and partner (1993-97) with Tharrington Smith in Raleigh, and as a law clerk for Judge W. Earl Britt from 1983-85.

She served on the Education Law Section council from 1988-94. In addition, she has twice been a member of the executive council of the N.C. Council of School Attorneys, from 1989-94 and since 1996. She served as chair in 1998-99. Schafer has also served on the executive council of the National Council of School Attorneys since 2003.

“Allison is one of the people that you can talk to on a lawyer-to-lawyer level or on a teacher-to-teacher level . . . and come away knowing that she is genuinely concerned about your question or situation,” her nomination noted, “and if she does not know the answer she will find it or help you find it. Allison has a great deal of experience in various areas of the law which has been helpful for her in the area of education law in which she has concentrated for the last 23 years.”

NCSBA Staff Members (from l to r) Debbie Shinbara, Kathy Boyd, Janine Murphy, Leanne Winner, Allison Schafer, Ed Dunlap, Donna Lynch, Molly Ryan and McKenna Osborn

The award was established in 1990 to recognize “outstanding leadership by an attorney in the field of education law.” It is presented as merited to “an attorney who has a record of professional, community and personal achievement in the representation or affiliation with educational institutions, including public and private schools and colleges or universities, involvement with parents, teachers, faculty or administrators in the field of education law.”

Previous recipients of the award were Edwin Speas Jr. (1990), John Hardy (1991), Robert Phay (1992), Laurie Mesibov (1993), George Rogister Jr. (1994), Douglas Punger (1995), Wardlaw Lamar (1996), Ann Majestic (1998), Phillip Dixon Sr. (2003), Elizabeth “Betsy” Bunting (2004), Walter L. Currie (2005), John Gresham (2006) and Thomas Ziko (2007)

NC School Districts Earn Magna Award Honors

North Carolina school districts have earned three top honors in the American School Board Journal’s 14^th annual Magna Awards program. The Magna Awards recognize districts across the country for outstanding programs that advance student learning and encourage community involvement in schools.

• Columbus County Schools, with Whiteville City Schools and Southeastern Community College in Whiteville, N.C., won first place in the 5,000 to 20,000 enrollment category for the Southeastern Early College High School Partnership Program.
• Columbus County Schools also received an honorable mention in the contest for its Beginning Teachers Support Program, which was developed after the turnover rate rose from 7 percent to 13.5 percent in three years.
• Cumberland County Schools was honored in the 20,000 and above enrollment category for the Cross Creek Early College High School (CCEC), a partnership with Fayetteville State University (FSU) and the New Schools Project. Spurred by high poverty and dropout rates, the district set up the early college high school on the Fayetteville State campus.

To read the full press release, click here.

NCACC to host essay contest on county government!

• Partnership for NC's Future

Issues:

• Planning Time & Duty-Free Lunch
• Lottery Revenue Guidelines 1 and 2
• Integrated Pest Management
• Mandatory Eye Exam
• Video - NC's Purchasing Flexibility Law
• No Child Left Behind Act
• Fair Labor Standards Act
• School Board Taxing Authority
• Leandro Funding Lawsuit
• Scholarship Special Provision

Sample Policies

• Sample Policy - Policy 4260, Student Sex Offenders
• Sample Policy - Policy 5022, Registered Sex Offenders

North Carolina School Boards Association
Mailing: PO Box 97877, Raleigh, NC 27624-7877
Street: 7208 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh, NC 27615
Phone: 919.841.4040  Fax: 919.841.4020