Tonya Thompson Email and Phone Number

• Provides legal counsel to District administration;• Oversees policy review for development, consideration, and implementation of revisions to current and new administrative policies and regulations;• Provides legislative updates to the Superintendent, Board of Education, and stakeholder groups on proposed law, policies, and emerging issues, including recommendations for new or revised policies;• Serves as the District contact for complaints filed with Office for Civil Rights and Colorado Department of Education;• Direct, coordinate, and draft responses for the District’s defense against formal charges of discrimination filed on behalf of students or employees;• Represents the District in due process hearings, mediation, and dispute resolution;• Coordinates the charter school authorization process for new charter school applicants; • Negotiates annual contract revisions with charter schools and contract schools, drafting all charter school contracts; • Drafts, reviews and interprets contracts, intergovernmental agreements, memoranda of understanding; • Trains district administrators and staff on topics of legal importance (e.g., IDEA, ECEA, Section 504, Data Privacy, FERPA, federal or state laws that affect K-12 education); • Provide legal counsel and advice on Special Education, section 504, and ADA legal matters;• Oversees enforcement of compulsory attendance laws and truancy court filings; • Hearing officer for expulsion recommendations in all matters relating to students’ rights, responsibilities, and discipline; • Conduct investigations and research legal issues in various areas of operations to assist departments in making legally-defensible decisions;• Provides overall support through knowledge of Colorado and federal law (e.g., confidentiality & data privacy; students with disabilities, including IDEA & Section 504 law; federal & state constitutional, statutory, and regulatory rights & responsibilities; tort law; contract law; property law).

Teach graduate level course LEAD 6400 - Legal Issues for School Leaders. Students learn about:• The legal structure of education; • Education as a state function; • Duties and powers of local boards of education; • Policy governance model and site based management;• Student rights and student discipline; • Compulsory attendance; • Teacher contracts, certification, due process rights, and teacher dismissal; • Tort liability; • Student protection, including bullying, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and mandatory reporting of child abuse; • The First Amendment, including the Establishment Clause, free speech rights and civil rights as they pertain to education; and • The IDEA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

• Responsible for implementation of an effective district-wide Title I program & Federal programs;• Develop, disseminate, and provide training on procedural and legal requirements of federal programs & other legal matters;• Supervise and evaluate Title I & Community and Family Connection staff who support homeless and Medicaid services;• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and district record keeping; • Facilitate data analysis for monitoring district & Title I school performance;• Collaborate with principals and leadership teams to develop school improvement plans which comply with federal and state mandates.

• Over 11 years of experience in administration, supervision and design leadership; • Organizational and visionary leader of large school of 1,100 students and staff of 115;• Led school improvement to Performance status from Priority Improvement based on CDE SPF;• Disaggregated groups consistently exceed the state’s average growth for CDE growth measures;• Developed, revised, and implemented accommodations for students with an IEP or 504 plan;• Supervised compliance with IDEA, Section 504, and McKinney-Vento Act;• Provided oversight with IDEA Due Process, including assisting with expulsion hearings & appeals;• Leadership of a Title I school, developing and managing complex budgets; • Analyzed data, define solutions, and monitor data trends for strategic planning.

• Responsible for providing efficient and timely, legal research and memoranda regarding education issues, privacy, labor and employment, real estate, and business matters affecting the District;• Conducted policy analysis including recommendations for alignment with revised statutes; • Created revised legal policies and documents for use District wide.

• Supported Chief Appellate District Attorney in completing legal research, drafting responsive motions, dispositive motions, memoranda of law, and appellate briefs filed with the Court on various felony and misdemeanor legal issues;• Assisted county court deputy in court, observed trials, motions hearings, and routine docket.

• Taught graduate level courses for post secondary work force development in leadership, administration and teacher preparation courses, providing instruction in leadership and management theories;• Collaboration with professional colleagues as an Advisory Board member.

• Taught advanced-level mathematics and science at the secondary level;• Published curriculum writing in mathematics for at-risk students.