Tom Cathey coordinates the ACSI Legal Defense Fund, which provides legal fees for selected cases and actions affecting ACSI member schools. Many member schools provide donations to this fund.
Legal Defense Fund Policy
ACSI will consider assistance and support for member schools and/or administrators that are facing legal or governmental problems that could adversely affect the Christian school movement. When selecting which schools to help, ACSI may also consider such factors as (1) whether the school sought competent legal advice before taking serious personnel actions or in the early stages of the developing problem, and (2) the "reasonableness" of the actions taken by the administration and/or school board prior to asking ACSI for help. ACSI will not defend a member school against reasonable regulations regarding facility use, fire, health and safety requirements, or established areas of employment law.
ACSI will also consider using the Legal Defense Fund in a proactive manner. This includes ACSI's being listed on, and providing financial support for, various friend-of-court briefs regarding litigation that will impact the operation of its member schools.
Individual Schools
- Step 1: ACSI staff is authorized by the ACSI Executive Board to spend up to $5,000 in legal fees from the ACSI Legal Defense Fund in meeting member schools’ legal needs at no expense to the member school when the problem is determined by staff to have broad implications for the Christian school community.
- Step 2: Once ACSI has expended $5,000, it is necessary for the legal/legislative committee of the Executive Board to authorize spending from $5,001 to $10,000. Beginning with this step, the school must help in a timely manner with the legal fees on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
- Step 3: For any ACSI Legal Defense Fund money to be spent beyond $10,000, the school’s case must be presented to the full ACSI Executive Board which must then vote to authorize continued funding. The school must continue to help with its legal defense on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
Group of Schools
If a group of ACSI member schools are directly affected by legislative, regulatory, or judicial changes, the ACSI staff with the approval of the legal/legislative committee will fund necessary legal costs up to $10,000. Board approval is required for expenditures beyond that amount. Donations may be solicited from the affected group of schools.
ACSI encourages administrators to call for help when they are facing a possible legal problem. In times past, some administrators have waited too long before contacting their association for help. ACSI needs to be contacted before legal proceedings have been instituted or before the forms have been filled out and sent to an agency such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), not after cases have already been lost at the administrative or lower court level. Then it is frequently too late to help or too expensive for ACSI to attempt to remedy the situation. Please contact ACSI at the outset of the difficulty. Do not wait until the matter has become too complex.
When you contact ACSI, you will be immediately provided with free administrative advice. If your situation merits help from the Legal Defense Fund, ACSI will refer you to an attorney in a timely manner. Please contact Tom Cathey, Director for Legal/Legislative Issues, to solicit help. He may be reached by calling 719.528.6906 in Colorado Springs, CO.
Legal Defense Fund Cases