Budgeting by Priorities: Budget Proposal Legal Services - Office of the General Counsel Strategic Plan Goal:

Support Services

Problem Statement: This request is fund the Office of the General Counsel to advise and represent the District consistent with the services that have been provided since January 1, 2015.

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Case Statement:

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The District has numerous legal services needs consistent with being both a large school district and a large employer. This includes both advice work and representation when matters are litigated in a wide variety of topics. The Office of the General Counsel has a specific plan for division of work that is regularly shared with its stakeholders via multiple means to ensure timely service. The Office of the General Counsel has been using Key Performance Indicators to monitor its performance since the 2012-2013 school year. The Office of the General Counsel has specific plans to manage the District's legal resources with care. That plan came into full implementation on January 1, 2015, when a third attorney was hired and finished an initial training period (see attached areas of legal coverage). The District has become more aggressive in addressing staff misconduct and under performance under the direction of the current Superintendent (see attached). Certificated staff has an automatic right to a hearing under state law when they are subject to suspension, termination, or non-renewal, and the Washington Education Association provides legal counsel to them at no cost to the staff member. The Washington Schools Risk Management Pool (WSRMP) does not cover the costs of these types of matters. The Office of the General Counsel now handles 80% of these matters in-house at a more cost-effective rate than having outside counsel exclusively represent the District, which was long standing prior practice (see attached). The Office of the General Counsel has also assumed 100% of union arbitrations and grievances matters for all unions other than the TEA in-house at a more cost-effective rate than having outside counsel exclusively represent the District, which was also long standing prior practice. To date, the District has prevailed in all matters handles by in-house counsel. Additionally, working closely with the Human Resources staff, the District’s in-house attorneys have been able to resolve an increasing number of labor and employment matters by agreements for resignations in lieu of termination or suspension. The Office of the General Counsel also now handles all unemployment disputes in-house, saving the Human Resources Department just shy of $25,000 paid to an outside vendor last year, whose work was less than satisfactory. The Office of the General Counsel also now responds to 100% all administrative complaints in-house, including those to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Department of Education’s Officer for Civil Rights, the Human Rights Commission, the Public Employee Relations Commission, the Public Disclosure Commission, the Department of Labor and Industries, and the

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Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Starting with the 2014-2015 school year, Pierce County ceased providing an attorney to handle truancy matters for the District. The District’s legal truancy work involves one full day per week in court, in addition the several additional hours per week of case preparation time. It was anticipated that it would cost the District between $70,000$90,000 per year to have truancy work done by an outside attorney, and instead the work is handled in-house at a more cost-effective rate. All three in-house attorneys continue to supervise outside counsel on matters were the cost of defense is being paid by the WRSMP. The General Counsel also procures and oversees the services of outside counsel for Bond, Construction, and Real Estate Matters. In all such circumstances, the General Counsel’s Office diligently supervise outside counsel to ensure they are being effective stewards of the District’s resources by complying with the District’s attached Litigation Guidelines and Budgeting Process. The General Counsel will continue to be in the Executive Board of the WSRMP and the Puget Sound Worker's Compensation Trust reflective of monitoring the District's resources and promoting the District's interests as a member of both organizations.

Stakeholders:

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The District, the Board, the Superintendent, Cabinet, Executive Directors, Directors, Assistant Directors, and building-based administrators are the primary internal stakeholders and primary external stakeholders include the Washington Schools Risk Management Pool and the Puget Sound Worker's Compensation Trust. Ultimately, the work of the Office of the General Counsel impacts every District student and staff member.

R A Scope of Work: What does the immediate work entail?

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Continuing services in the same manner that they have been provided since January 1, 2015.

T Success Criteria and Goal Statements: 1. The Office of the General Counsel provides our clients with forward-thinking, adaptable solutions in a timely and accurate manner.

2. The Office of the General Counsel develops school leaders who have a clear understanding of applicable legal frameworks and the ability to act independently based upon the resources that they have been provided.

3. The Office of the General Counsel understands the work of our clients and is fully invested in efforts to meet all of the District’s Strategic Goals and Benchmarks.

4. The Office of the General Counsel are effective stewards of the District’s fiscal resources when handling matters in-house.

5. The Office of the General Counsel are effective stewards of the District’s fiscal resources when superivsing outside counsel.

Performance Measures: 1. The Office of the General Counsel will review and provide feedback on all draft settlement agreements within two days of receipt; will review and provide feedback on all draft contracts submitted through the Contract Review Process within five school business days of receipt; and will review and provide feedback on all correspondence submitted by our clients for review within ten school business days of receipt.

2. The Office of the General Counsel will provide at least four trainings to Principals and

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Assistant Principals during the 2015-2016 school year and will work with our clients to develop or revise at least two procedural manuals during the 2015-2016 school year.

3. At least one member of the Office of the General Counsel will be present at all Principal

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meetings during the 2015-2016 school year; a member of the Office of the General Counsel will be present at 90% of Learning Support Meetings during the 2015-2016 school year; and at least one member of Office of the General Counsel will attend all meetings related to Strategic Goal 4, Safety for the 2015-2016 school year. Every member of the Office of the General Counsel will participate in the Washington Council of School Attorneys and will development leadership skills by leading specific areas of the work of the office.

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4. The Office of the General Counsel will work with its clients (primarily Human Resources and Special Education) to decrease the costs of litigation handled in-house by 5% during the 20152016 school year.

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5. The Office of the General Counsel will review every bill submitted by outside counsel against its Litigation Guidelines and the Case Budget established at the outset of the case, and will ensure that the District is not charged for any work performed contrary to the same.

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What specific Board adopted benchmarks will be influenced by this work? All of them

What do you predict your results will look like after:

9 Weeks of Implementation The Office of the General Counsel will have reviewed and provided feedback on all draft settlement agreements within two days of receipt; all draft contracts submitted through the Contract Review Process within five school business days of receipt; and all correspondence submitted by our clients for review within ten school business days of receipt. The Office of the General Counsel will have presented at least one training to Principals and Assistant Principals. At least one member of the Office of the General Counsel will have been present at all Principal meetings to date; a member of the Office of the General Counsel will have been present at 90% of all Learning Support Meetings to date; and at least one member of Office of the General Counsel will have been at all meetings related to Strategic Goal 4, Safety to date. Every member of the Office of the General Counsel will have attended the Washington Council of School Attorneys Fall Work Shop.

18 Weeks of Implementation

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The Office of the General Counsel will have reviewed and provided feedback on all draft settlement agreements within two days of receipt; all draft contracts submitted through the Contract Review Process within five school business days of receipt; and all correspondence submitted by our clients for review within ten school business days of receipt. The Office of the General Counsel will have presented at least one training to Principals and Assistant Principals. At least one member of the Office of the General Counsel will have been present at all Principal meetings to date; a member of the Office of the General Counsel will have been present at 90% of all Learning Support Meetings to date; and at least one member of Office of the General Counsel will have been at all meetings related to Strategic Goal 4, Safety to date. Every member of the Office of the General Counsel will have attended the Washington Council of School Attorneys Fall Work Shop.

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27 Weeks of Implementation

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The Office of the General Counsel will have reviewed and provided feedback on all draft settlement agreements within two days of receipt; all draft contracts submitted through the Contract Review Process within five school business days of receipt; and all correspondence submitted by our clients for review within ten school business days of receipt. The Office of the General Counsel will have presented at least one training to Principals and Assistant Principals. At least one member of the Office of the General Counsel will have been present at all Principal meetings to date; a member of the Office of the General Counsel will have been present at 90% of all Learning Support Meetings to date; and at least one member of Office of the General Counsel will have been at all meetings related to Strategic Goal 4, Safety to date. Every member of the Office of the General Counsel will have attended the Washington Council of School Attorneys Fall Work Shop.

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36 Weeks of Implementation

The Office of the General Counsel will have reviewed and provided feedback on all draft settlement agreements within two days of receipt; all draft contracts submitted through the Contract Review Process within five school business days of receipt; and all correspondence submitted by our clients for review within ten school business days of receipt. The Office of the General Counsel will have presented at least one training to Principals and Assistant Principals. At least one member of the Office of the General Counsel will have been present at all Principal meetings to date; a member of the Office of the General Counsel will have been present at 90% of all Learning Support Meetings to date; and at least one member of Office of the General Counsel will have been at all meetings related to Strategic Goal 4, Safety to date. Every member of the Office of the General Counsel will have attended the attended the Washington Council of School Attorneys Fall and Spring Work Shops. The costs of litigation handled in-house will decrease by 5% during the 2015-2016 school year as cpmpared to the 2014-2015 school year. The District will not charged for any work performed by outside counsel that is not in line with the District's Litigation Guidelines and the Case Budget established at the outset of the case

Attach documents associated with this proposal here:

Legal Office Updated Areas of Coverage.pdf Adobe Acrobat Document 80.4 KB

Legal Office Updated Areas of Coverage.pdf Adobe Acrobat Document 80.4 KB

Cost information.pdf Adobe Acrobat Document 85.7 KB

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