Jaime A. Fernand concentrates her practice exclusively on education law, charter school and private school governance, and related regulatory matters. She focuses on helping schools and the organizations that support them. Specifically, Jaime supports schools and networks, providing counsel in a wide range of areas including student discipline, employment law (including policies, investigations and counseling on employment decisions), social media and privacy issues (for in-person and remote instruction), reporting requirements, governance, school policies, crisis management, special education, and testing integrity. She guides schools through the charter application and renewal processes. She also helps schools manage the challenges presented by COVID-19. Further, she conducts employment and student-focused investigations on behalf of a school’s Board of Trustees.
Jaime was trained in mediation while employed at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and she regularly assists schools with responses to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Office for Civil Rights, and formal requests from government agencies and authorizers.
Education
- Yeshiva University, Cardozo School of Law (J.D.)
- New York State University at Binghamton (B.S.)
Bar Admissions
- New York
- Worked collaboratively with parent advocacy organizations in NY to develop model charter school disciplinary practices.
- Conducts investigations into employment, fraud, test administration, and allegations of misconduct between students or students and school employees.
- Helps schools navigate intricacies of social media in the workplace and between students (cyber-bullying, sexual harassment).
- Regularly assists schools carry out administrative hearings related to disciplinary matters
- Advises schools and not-for-profit organizations on regulatory compliance, contract work and transactional matters.
- Trains and advises charter school board on governance best practices.
- Interacts with authorizers on behalf of charter schools.
- Served as Chief Education Counsel for EdisonLearning and its nationwide network of schools (charter, district partnership, and virtual).
- Helped found the Andrew H. Wilson Charter School in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
- Coronavirus (COVID-19): Dealing with Student Discipline During COVID-19 Closures, by Jaime A. Fernand (April 14, 2020)
- Update on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Considerations Relating to NY Charter Schools, by Paul T. O’Neill, Jaime A. Fernand and Lisa J. Holtzmuller (March 16, 2020)
- Charter School Law Deskbook (Lexis Nexis Publishers), contributing author
Jaime often speaks at local, state and national charter school conferences. Including the following:
- Navigating Student Discipline During COVID-19, New York Charter School Association Conference (October 23, 2020)
- Be in the Know: Managing Staff Accommodations Requests for Fall 2020, New York City Charter School Center (July 21, 2020)
- Legal Lowdown Podcast, Episode 13, COVID-19: Student Discipline in the Virtual Classroom (April 1, 2020)
- Webinar: New York’s Paid Family Leave Law (March 27, 2018)
- Member, Alliance of Public Charter School Attorneys
- Member, New York City Bar Association
- Human Rights Committee, New York Center for Autism Charter School
- Former Trustee, Brownsville Ascend Charter School in Brooklyn, New York