Celynda L. Brasher

Attorney At Law / Shareholder

Celynda L. Brasher is a founding shareholder of the firm. She practices in the areas of education, litigation, and labor and employment law. Celynda represents numerous school districts throughout Missouri. She regularly advises boards of education and administrators on matters involving employee hiring, evaluation, remediation, and termination; student rights and discipline; special education; school finance; civil rights; contracts; the Missouri Open Meetings Act; church/state issues; and an assortment of other constitutional matters. Celynda also represents public, private, and non-profit employers in discrimination defense, collective bargaining, union organization, unemployment compensation, wage/hour compliance, and terminations, as well as a variety of other employment law areas. Celynda has extensive litigation experience in federal and state courts and before federal and state administrative agencies. Celynda is a frequent speaker and author on school law and private employment topics. She is a co-author of the Missouri Bar School Law CLE Deskbook, and has written a number of articles for legal, educational, and school nursing publications. Celynda is a former tenured teacher and a registered nurse. Celynda has a B.A. in History from Drury University. She also has a B.S. from Saint Louis University School of Nursing. Celynda earned her J.D., cum laude, Order of the Woolsack, from Saint Louis University School of Law. Celynda was also Managing Editor of the St. Louis University Law Journal.

Celynda is a founding Shareholder of the Firm and served on the Firm’s three-person Management Committee in 2014 and 2015.

Education

J.D., St. Louis University School of Law, cum laude, 1991

• Order of the Woolsack
• Managing Editor, Saint Louis University Law Journal

B.S., St. Louis University School of Nursing, 1980

• B.S., St. Louis University School of Nursing, 1980
• B.A., Drury College, 1975

Professional Affiliations

• The Missouri Bar Association
• Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
• National Council of School Attorneys
• Missouri Council of School Attorneys, Former Chairperson

Selected Publications and Presentations

• “What to Do When the Teacher Has Abandoned All (or Most) Standards of Even Remotely Acceptable Conduct!”, Missouri School Law Seminar, 2011
• Co-Author, Missouri Bar Association, Missouri School Law CLE Desk Book
• “The Law v. The Cyberbully”
• “Negotiating Superintendent Contracts”
• “Residency, Domicile, and Absent Parents – Where Does this Student Live and Who Acts as the Parents?”
• “Legal effect of Statutes, Regulations, and NFPA 1600” (Pandemic Planning)
• “Business Continuity and Disaster Planning”
• “Working with Medically Fragile Students”
• “Legal Issues for School Administrators”
• “Collective Bargaining in Missouri”
• “A Brief Guide to Identifying and Serving Section 504 Students”
• “Legal Issues for New School Board Members”
• “Pandemic Planning – Legal Issues”
• “Legal Issues for School Personnel:  Technology, the Law, and the School District – Recent Developments and Practical Guidance”
• “How the MHRA Is Being Used Against Schools”
• “Working Together to End Cyberbullying – Policy Possibilities”
• “Dealing with Staff Not in Bargaining Units”
• “The Fair Labor Standards Act”
• “Collective Bargaining Workshop – Practical Guidance for School Officials”
• “Implications of the IDEA and Section 504” (OTs and PTs)
• “Legal Issues Affecting Technology in K-12 Schools”
• “Technology in the Schools – Policy, Privacy, and Practical Legal Issues”
• “Sick Leave Pools – How to Get Out”
• “Evaluation and Documentation of Employee Performance:  What you Must Know to Avoid Liability”
• “What Should Be on Your Employment Applications and in Your Employment Contracts”
• “Cracking the Code:   Advanced School Law – Student Discipline”
• “Ethical Implications of New E-Discovery Rules and Handling Related Conflict of Interest Situations”
• “Legally Speaking:  The Role of ‘Response to Scientific Research-Based Intervention Process’ in Diagnosis of LD and Other Learning Disabilities”
• “Blogs, Spiders, and Other Computer Creatures:   What School Administrators Must Know”
• “Fraud in the Public Schools – Legal Issues”
• “Legal Issues for School Nurses”
• “Legal Issues for School Counselors”
• “Safety in the Schools”
• “Employment Contracts”
• “Online Sex Offender Registries”
• “The Fair Labor Standards Act”
• “Legal Issues for School Principals”
• “Early Separation Incentive Plans”
• “Legal Issues for School Employees”
• “How to Handle Child Abuse Hotline Issues”
• “Title IX:  Gender Equity”
• “State Responsibility for ‘Severely Handicapped’ Special Education Students”
• “Reductions in Force, Layoffs, and Non-Renewals”
• “Confidentiality Issues in Schools – FERPA and HIPAA”
• “General Legal Issues for Middle School Personnel”
• “Legal Updates for MUSIC Annual Membership Meeting”
• “Military Leave”
• “High Stakes Testing/Statewide Assessments”
• “Confidentiality Issues for Support Staff”
• “Legal Issues for School Secretaries”
• “Recent Developments Under Section 504”
• “Special Education Issues for LASE Members”
• “Pomp and Circumstance: Graduation, Honors and Transcripts”
• “How and When to Make the Relatedness Determination”
• “Time-Out Rooms Dos and Don’ts”
• “Preparing for Transition Services and Graduation”
• “Sexual Harassment”
• “Co-author, “Special Education in Missouri,” The St. Louis Bar Journal
• “DFS Investigations-Abuse in the Home and at School”
• “Family and Medical Leave Act”
• “OCR Investigations”
• “Teens and Drugs,” St. Louis Metropolitan Medicine
• Co-author, “Avoiding Conversion of Unemployment Claims to Contract Claims,” Inquiry and Analysis
• “Sexual Harassment of Students: Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools”
• “Confidentiality and Access to Student Records”