Jennifer Baldassari
Partner | Walnut Creek
jbaldassari@lozanosmith.com
Tel: 925.953.1620
Fax: 925.953.1625
Vcard
Bio
Overview
Jennifer Baldassari is a Partner in Lozano Smith’s Walnut Creek office and co-chair of the firm’s Special Education Practice Group. She represents public school districts, county offices of education, and special education local plan areas throughout California, with a practice focused on student issues and special education. Ms. Baldassari advises clients on complex compliance matters and works closely with district leadership to proactively identify and address systemic issues, with the goal of avoiding costly disputes and strengthening legally sound educational practices.Experience
Ms. Baldassari represents school districts in civil rights litigation before California administrative courts involving the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. She regularly counsels and represents clients in IEP meetings, resolution sessions, mediations, due process hearings, and Office for Civil Rights investigations, providing strategic guidance on both individual student matters and broader programmatic concerns.Presentations
Ms. Baldassari is a frequent speaker for statewide and regional professional organizations, including the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO). She regularly presents on topics such as ERMHS assessments, inclusion of students with disabilities, mental health, and school avoidance, and is a recurring presenter for Lozano Smith’s Special Education Legal Consortium.Additional Experience
Ms. Baldassari has taught school law and public policy at Mills College in Oakland and served for two years on the Office of Administrative Hearings’ Advisory Committee. Her background also includes hands-on classroom experience as a teacher’s aide and work as a summer associate with the California Department of Education’s Legal Office while attending law school.Education
Ms. Baldassari earned her Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, where she received Pro Bono Honors. During law school, she served as a Graduate Student Assistant, Judicial Extern, and Certified Legal Intern, gaining experience in education law, special education, and civil litigation. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Managerial Economics and Statistics from the University of California, Davis, and received Honors Internship recognition in Education.No Special Hurdles U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Higher Burden for Students in Disability Discrimination Claims
June 27, 2025 Number 26 On June 12, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in A.J.T. by and through A.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, Independent School District No. 279 (U.S., June 12, 2025, No. 24-249) 605 U.S. __, holding that students bringing disability discrimination claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 cannot be held to a higher legal standard solely because their claims arise in an educational context. Specifical...
All Homework and No Play Makes Students Have a Bad Day – California Seeks to Ease Homework Related Stress
November 2024Number 48On September 27, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2999, also known as the Healthy Homework Act, into law, following growing concern about students’ mental health amid an increasing volume of homework. AB 2999 encourages (but does not require) local educational agencies (LEAs) to develop a homework policy by the 2027-28 school year and adopt it by the 2028-2029 school year. More Homework, More ProblemsAccording to the legislative declaratio...
Recent Bills Focus on Preventing Opioid Overdoses
January 2024Number 5Governor Newsom recently signed Assembly Bill (AB) 889, Senate Bill (SB) 10, and SB 234, which focus on preventing opioid overdoses in California public schools.AB 889 – Annual Notice to Parents and Guardians Regarding Synthetic DrugsAB 889 requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to notify parents or guardians regarding the dangers associated with using unprescribed synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl, through updates to the annual notice. As a reminder, the annual ...
Ninth Circuit Contemplates Whether an ADA Claim Arising from Alleged Denial of FAPE Requires Exhaustion of Administrative Process
May 22, 2023Number 20Back in November of 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc in deciding D.D. v. Los Angeles Unified School District (9th Cir. 2021) 18 F.4th 1043, addressed the issue of whether a plaintiff asserting a claim in federal court under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) must first pursue available administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In that opinion, the Ninth Circuit applied the Unite...
Ninth Circuit Holds Four-Month Delay in Autism Assessment Plan was not a Violation of IDEA
March 2023Number 11In its recent opinion in D.O. v. Escondido Union School District (9th Cir. Jan. 31, 2023, No. 21-55498), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a federal district court and determined a four-month delay in proposing to assess a student for autism was neither a procedural nor substantive violation of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).BackgroundThis case contained an extensive factual and procedural history about a student “experiencing...
New Law Authorizes School Staff to Administer Emergency Anti-Seizure Medication
December 2022Number 55Current law allows for the administration of prescription medication to students at school, and specifically authorizes local educational agencies (LEAs) to use trained, non-medical school personnel to administer or assist with the administration of emergency epinephrine autoinjectors, emergency naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist, glucagon, and inhaled asthma medication. New law now adds anti-seizure medication to this growing list. Seizure Sa...
New Pathway to Diploma and Other AB 181 Impacts on Special Education
August 2022Number 39Assembly Bill (AB) 181, signed into law June 30, 2022, makes a number of changes to California special education laws impacting students, families, and local educational agencies (LEAs). AB 181 became effective immediately.New Pathway to Diploma for Students Taking Alternate AssessmentsAmong other changes, AB 181 creates an alternate pathway to a high school diploma for students with significant cognitive disabilities. With AB 181’s addition of section 51...
Emotional Distress Damages Unavailable in Section 504 Actions
May 2022Number 20On April 28, 2022, the United States Supreme Court narrowed the scope of damages available under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), ruling that emotional distress damages are not recoverable in private actions to enforce Section 504 and other similar Spending Clause antidiscrimination statutes, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Title VI, and Title IX.BackgroundPlaintiff Jane Cummings is deaf, legally blind, and communicates primarily in Americ...
ADA Claim Arising from Alleged Denial of FAPE Requires Exhaustion of Administrative Process
January 2022Number 2The recent en banc opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, D.D. v. Los Angeles Unified School District (9th Cir. 2021) 18 F.4th 1043, addresses the issue of whether a plaintiff asserting a claim in federal court under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) must first pursue available administrative remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Applying the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Fry v. Napolean Cmty. ...
Seek and Serve: California Expands Outreach for Homeless Youth
November 2021Number 36The California Legislature, believing many school districts were inaccurately reporting the numbers of homeless youth residing within their boundaries across the state, enacted Assembly Bill (AB) 27 and Senate Bill (SB) 400 to improve the identification and enrollment for homeless youth residing within a local educational agency’s (LEA) boundaries. With AB 27 taking immediate effect and SB 400 becoming operative on January 1, 2022, school districts and their respec...
SB 98, COVID-19 and Special Education: What's Next?
July 2020Number 57SB 98 is the recent Education Budget Trailer Bill signed into law by Gavin Newsom on June 29, 2020. Among other things, it was enacted to protect school funding from uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It makes important statutory changes to almost every area of education from labor and employment, to average daily attendance (ADA), Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), charter schools, and special education. This article focuses on SB 98’s impacts to sp...
Special Education Eligibility Influenced by Pre-Referral Interventions
September 2016 Number 62 A recent Ninth Circuit decision, L.J. v. Pittsburg Unified School District (9th Cir., Sept. 1, 2016, No. 14-16139) __ F.3d __ [2016 U.S.App. LEXIS 16201], underscores the importance of accounting for pre-referral interventions when evaluating special education eligibility. Rejecting the assertion that specific pre-referral services were general education interventions, the Ninth Circuit held the student required and benefitted from specialized services and should ...
Recent Legislation Addresses Cheerleading, District Training Requirements to Protect Students, and Changes to the Uniform Complaint Procedures
November 2015 Number 70 In October 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law five new bills that all go into effect January 1, 2016, enacting important changes to the Education Code on issues affecting student rights and services. These bills address mandatory training for school counselors, classification of competition cheerleading as a sport, additions to the Safe Place to Learn Act, guidance regarding child abuse and training, and an expansion of the Uniform Complaint Procedures to c...
Parent Perspective and Prospective Services Tip the Scales in Evaluating Value of Statutory Settlement Offer
October 2015 Number 59 The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has warned districts that an award to parents in a due process hearing which may cost a district less than what it offered in its ten-day statutory offer does not necessarily protect the district from an attorneys' fee demand. (T.B./Wyner v. San Diego Unified School District (9th Cir. 2015) 2015 U.S. App. Lexis 13365.) The Ninth Circuit made it clear the value of a settlement offer is about more than money. In the recent case of...