CHARTER SCHOOLS PRACTICE

We currently provide legal services to numerous charter schools located throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We handle all types of legal matters including education, litigation, employment and labor, corporation formation and dissolution, real property leases and purchases, contract drafting and negotiations, among others.

LATSHA DAVIS YOHE & MCKENNA, P.C. serves as solicitor for numerous charter schools throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and special counsel for several more charter schools. We have represented a number of charter schools in the litigation of cases before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which were successfully concluded. We have also successfully represented charter schools before the Commonwealth Court and the State Charter School Appeal Board (CSAB). Our charter school clients vary from schools seeking renewals of their initial charters to schools in the beginning stages of organization prior to obtaining a charter. On a daily basis, we handle a variety of issues, including facilities and maintenance, employment, student and professional staff discipline, special education, transportation, equipment, property purchases and leases, financing, fund-raising, vendor contracts, etc. We routinely deal with public school districts and often interact with the solicitors of these public districts on our client’s behalf. We have developed beneficial professional relationships with the solicitors of many school districts. In our experience, a solid relationship with public school districts is vital to the successful operation of any charter school. Kevin McKenna is general counsel to the Pennsylvania Charter School Board Association.

In the past few years, our clients have faced numerous legal issues, including challenges to their charters, transportation issues with public districts refusing to provide school bus transportation to charter students, breach of contract lawsuits against outside vendors, special education hearings, employment claims, etc. When necessary, the Firm has successfully obtained injunctions against school districts to compel funding and provide busing to charter schools.

We recognize that each charter school is different and that each board of trustees is also dissimilar. Some of our clients request that we attend every public meeting and at times provide the public with updates of legal issues. Many of the parents and board members of the schools which embrace this approach appreciate the information coming directly from the school’s solicitor or attorney rather than through the grapevine or the media. As solicitors, we attend executive sessions of board of trustee meetings. These meetings are closed to the public and afford the board and us the opportunity to speak confidentially about personnel and legal matters. It is in this role as advisor that LATSHA DAVIS YOHE & MCKENNA, P.C. excels.  Our attorneys acknowledge and accept that the mission of charter schools is to educate children and to foster choice in public education. We recognize the strain that certain expenses have on already tight school budgets. It is because of our experience in representing so many charter schools that we are successful in minimizing costs without compromising quality legal representation. We are able to meet the needs of our schools because of our charter school experience and because of the combined experience of our attorneys.