(Photo by s_falkow via flickr.com)

More than 350 educators recently gathered at the University of Missouri–St. Louis for the Annual Missouri School Law Seminar presented by Tueth Keeney Cooper Mohan & Jackstadt P.C., a law firm in Clayton, Mo.

“The primary purpose of the Annual Missouri School Law Seminar is to bring school leaders together to learn about and to discuss both Missouri and federal school laws and legal requirements that will impact school districts in Missouri and the nation,” said Ken Owen, teaching professor of educational leadership and policy studies at UMSL. “The seminar has been a tremendous success and is one of, if not the largest, one-day seminars on the UMSL campus.”

The College of Education at UMSL first sponsored the annual seminar in 2008 after Owen approached firm officials about the seminar.

The firm had offered the seminar annually in several locations throughout Missouri. Owen said he felt adding UMSL as a host site would not only benefit the region but hundreds of UMSL alumni. It’s now held in three Missouri locations each summer. In addition to UMSL, the others take place Blue Springs and Osage Beach.

The first year attracted approximately 200 participants and has steadily increased since.

“It’s wonderful how the seminar has grown,” Owen said. “And the information provided is critical to school administrators and educators.”

This year’s topics included:

• How to identify and accommodate students with disabilities
• Reducing staff: saving money and preventing litigations
• Keeping schools safe: when to exclude a student and how to do it
• To catch a predator
• Dealing with the difficult parent: how not to spend 99 percent of your time on 1 percent of your parents
• Cast your vote: legal issues for school districts in an election year
• Panel discussion: questions and comments – what do inquiring minds want to know?

Sponsors of the seminar are College of Education at UMSL, Center for Urban Education at UMSL, Missouri United School Insurance Council, Missouri Association of School Administrators, Missouri Association of School Business Officials, Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals, Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals, Missouri Boards’ Association, Missouri K-8 Association and Cooperating School Districts.

Visit tuethkeeney.com for additional information on the Annual Missouri School Law Seminar or contact Ken Owen at owenk@umsl.edu.