Merry RhoadesMerry Rhoades, Tueth Keeney partner and shareholder, held a special education in-service for Mid-State Special Education Joint Agreement on June 6, 2008. The presentation was held at the Taylorville Extension Office and was titled Special Education In-Service: Special Education Discipline, Residency, Class Size and Workload Regulations, and Initial Evaluations. The presentation was broken down into sections addressing topics such as Discipline and the Special Education Student: A Practical Guide; Residency and Responsibility for Payment for Special Education Services – Are these terms synonymous?; Class size? Workload? Changes to the Special Education Regulations; and What is Child Find? What Steps are Required When a Request for Evaluation is Provided?
Minimizing legal risks to its clients is an important focus of Tueth Keeney. To minimize a client’s legal risks, Tueth Keeney attorneys often present in-services for its clients. Tueth Keeney is proud of its commitment to the advising and educating of school administrators on the complex and ever changing legal issues facing public schools.
Merry C. Rhoades focuses her practice on general counsel services with an emphasis on special education law and student-related issues, school district reorganization matters and tax and finance matters. Because of her more than 20 years experience in representing Illinois public school districts, she has key insights regarding the day-to-day operation of the school district. She has extensive experience in special education administrative hearings, civil rights litigation, state and federal court litigation at the trial and appellate levels, and state administrative hearings.
Merry is an active member of several school related organizations. She is a member of the Illinois Council of School Attorneys Executive Committee and currently serves as its 1st Vice Chairperson and she is a service member to the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA). She serves as an Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) PRESS advisory committee member. Merry has been asked to speak for such organizations as the Illinois Alliance of Administrators of Special Education (IAASE), the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), the Illinois Principal’s Association (IPA) and the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) on numerous school related issues.
Tueth Keeney is proud to be one of the state’s largest Illinois education law practices. The firm has one of the most experienced groups of attorneys in Central and Southern Illinois dedicated to serving public schools. We regularly represent nearly 150 public school districts, including many districts in Central and Southern Illinois. Our Firm is also regularly appointed by insurers of educational institutions to represent districts in complex or difficult cases involving school or civil rights laws.