Sloan R. Simmons
Partner | Sacramento
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ssimmons@lozanosmith.com
Tel: 916.329.7433
Fax: 916.329.9050
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Bio
Overview
Sloan R. Simmons is a Partner in Lozano Smith's Sacramento office and co-chair of the firm's Litigation Practice Group. His areas of expertise are civil rights and all forms of school district and public agency trial court litigation and appeals, as well as student issues. Mr. Simmons' years of experience on student issues for school districts of all sizes and in all regions of the state has resulted in his expertise in nearly all student related matters. Mr. Simmons was named a Top Lawyer in Schools & Education by Sacramento Magazine in 2020.Presenter Experience
Mr. Simmons has presented on the intersection of student free speech and other constitutional and statutory rights, discipline, and the technology and several other issues before the California School Boards Association (CSBA), Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), California Small School Districts' Association (SSDA), California Association of Supervisors of Child Welfare and Attendance (CASCWA), and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA).Articles
Mr. Simmons' article "Disciplining Students for E-Communications" was published in the Daily Journal in January 2010. His February and March 2012 articles "What's Next in ACLU's Student Fee Case" and "Cancer Awareness Slogans Pose Tough Challenges for Schools," were also published in the Daily Journal.Education
Mr. Simmons earned his J.D. from the University of California, Davis, School of Law, and his B.A. (summa cum laude), with Honors in the Major and Honors in General Education, from California State University, Chico.While attending law school he received the honor of Outstanding Oral Advocate, was selected as a member of the Order of the Barristers, and as a member of the University of California, Davis, National Moot Court Team. He also held the position of Senior Articles Editor for the 2002-2003 and co-chaired the law school's Advocates for the Rights of Children student organization. As an undergraduate, Mr. Simmons presented his Honors Thesis, "Justice William J. Brennan Jr.: Bringing Justice to Education" at the 2001 Western Regional Honors Conference.
Supreme Court Sets Aside Student's Cheer Team Suspension, but Confirms Schools' Authority to Regulate Off-Campus Expression
New Appellate Court Case Holds College Not Required to Hold Live Evidentiary Hearing before Issuing Written Reprimand
Public School Districts Cannot be Sued Under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act for Disability Discrimination
Supreme Court Keeps DACA in Place, Emphasizing Importance of Procedural Requirements for the Program's Rescission
Status of Federal and State Laws on Student Gender Identify Rights: Federal Lawsuit Seeks to Block Participation of Transgender Athletes and the Office for Civil Rights Weighs In
Pair of Cases Uphold School Districts' Limitations on Parent Communications and Access to Campus
Court of Appeal Issues Opinion in School Districts' Favor in Latest Round of P.E. Minutes Litigation
California Supreme Court Sides Against School Districts in State Mandates Case
Court of Appeal Confirms Limits on Severance Payouts to Public Employees
Ninth Circuit Addresses Impact Of Dismissals And Settlement Of Due Process Complaints On The IDEA's Administrative Remedy Exhaustion Requirement
California Supreme Court Holds Firefighting Immunity Under California's Government Claims Act Is A Waivable Affirmative Defense
The United States Supreme Court Again Confronts The Reach Of The Establishment Clause
Supreme Court Says Plaintiffs In Law Enforcement First Amendment Retaliation Cases Must Prove No Probable Cause For Arrest
Appellate Court Addresses Evidentiary Issue Impacting Burgeoning Field Of Child Abuse Litigation Against Public Entities
Federal Agencies Withdraw Previously Issued Guidance On The Nondiscriminatory Administration Of School Discipline
New OCR Case Processing Manual - Significant Changes For Public School Civil Rights Enforcement
New Law Entitles Students To Wear Tribal Regalia Or Recognized Objects Of Religious, Ceremonial Or Cultural Significance As An Adornment At School Graduation Ceremonies
New Law Limits School District Collection of Debts from Students and Penalties for Debts
Ninth Circuit Upholds California's Voters' Choice Act
School Surveillance Video May be a Student Record, Triggering FERPA Obligations
Legislature Stops Local Agencies from Limiting the Presentation of Childhood Sexual Abuse Claims
Lawmakers Extend Limits on Disruption and Defiance Discipline, Expand Use of Uniform Complaint Procedures
FDA Approves Marijuana-Based Drug for Pediatric Epilepsy
Supreme Court Opinion on Wedding Cake for Same-Sex Couples Provides Cautionary Tale for Public Entities
Court of Appeal Clarifies Issues Impacting Student Expulsions for Sexual Battery
California Attorney General Publishes Guide on the Rights of Undocumented Immigrant Students and Families
Local Agencies May Enact Presentation Requirements for Childhood Sexual Abuse Claims, Court Rules
Immigration Enforcement Actions in California
Student Walkouts: What Your District Needs to Know
Student Athlete's Right to Kneel during National Anthem Likely Protected by the First Amendment
School District Need Not Accommodate Coach's Request to Publicly Pray at Football Games
Rescission of DACA: What Public Agencies Need to Know
California Supreme Court Denies Untimely Childhood Sexual Abuse Damages Claim
New School Funding Scheme Does Not Eliminate Immunity From Federal Damage Claims
Supreme Court Finds Trademark Disparagement Clause Unconstitutional
Supreme Court Strikes Down Denial of Government Grant to Church
OCR Issues New Instructions on Transgender Student Complaints
Federal Court Upholds Texas School Board's Practice of Student Invocations at School Board Meetings
2017 Annual Notice of Parental Rights and Responsibilities Updates
Ninth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment, Finding Employer's Response to Discrimination and Harassment Complaints Inadequate
Ninth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment, Finding Employer's Response to Discrimination and Harassment Complaints Inadequate
New Federal Guidance Regarding Transgender Students Will Not Impact California Schools
Schools and Immigration Enforcement
Student Walkouts: Free Speech Rights vs. Truancy Rules
California Court Rules that Charter Schools Generally Cannot Locate Outside of Their Authorizing School District's Boundaries
U.S. Department of Education Issues Guidance on Implementing ESSA's New Provisions Regarding Homeless Students
School's Discipline of Student for Off-Campus Sexual Harassment Proper under First Amendment
The Satanic Temple Seeks Access to Public Elementary Schools Nationwide
U.S. District Court in Texas Issues Preliminary Injunction Enjoining Federal Departments of Justice and Education's Joint Guidance on Transgender Student Rights in Schools under Title IX
U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms "Strict Scrutiny" Standard Governing the Use of Race in Public College and University Admissions
Significant Cases
- In Anderson Union High School District v. Shasta Secondary Home School (2016) 4 Cal.App.5th 262, Mr. Simmons was part of the Lozano Smith litigation team that successfully argued, in a case of first impression, that the geographic and site limitations of the Charter Schools Act (Ed. Code, § 47600 et seq.) are applicable to all charter schools, including “nonclassroom-based” programs.
- In Newark Unified School District v. Superior Court (2015) 245 Cal.App.4th 887, Mr. Simmons successfully obtained appellate writ relief in an opinion where the Court of Appeal held that a public entity may seek the return of and “claw back” documents protected by the attorney-client privilege that are inadvertently disclosed in a response to a Public Records Act request, establishing new precedent on this issue of first impression.
- In Nathan G. v. Clovis Unified School District (2014) 224 Cal.App.4th 1393, Mr. Simmons successfully defended the district's involuntary transfer of student to continuation high school and obtained first published opinion interpreting the involuntary transfer statute, appropriate level of review under same, and the nature of other means of correction necessary before imposing an involuntary transfer.
- In Rimando v. Alum Rock Union Elementary School District (9th Cir. 2009) 356 Fed.Appx. 989, Mr. Simmons successfully argued that a California public school district is a "State employer" for purposes of the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) and consequently suits against school districts under USERRA must be filed in state court, a decision which is the first of its kind in the Ninth Circuit.
- In Clovis Unified School District v. Chiang (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 794, Mr. Simmons assisted school district in invalidating audits of several state mandated cost reimbursement claims worth more than $30 million, based upon the use of invalid, underground auditing documentation rule by the State Controller's Office.
- Mr. Simmons conducted briefing preparation on the published decision Alex G. v. Board of Trustees (E.D. Cal. 2005) 387 F.Supp.2d 1119, successfully defending against section 504 and ADA discrimination and retaliation claims in the special education context.
- Mr. Simmons also prepared briefing for Chavez v. City of Los Angeles (2010) 47 Cal.4th 970, in support of the City of Los Angeles on behalf of amicus curiae the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties, which is one of several federal and state cases in which Mr. Simmons has prepared amicus curiae briefs.
- In A.A. v. Raymond (E.D. Cal. July 22, 2013) 2013 WL 3816565, assisted in successfully defeating a bid to halt school closures by way of preliminary injunction, where the district court agreed that plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their equal protection, American Disabilities Act, and due process claims challenging the school closures.