Helping Central Valley school districts deliver services to students with disabilities, Kathleen “Kathy” Anderson counsels clients on the requirements imposed by federal and state statutes such as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) and related California law and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) and related state law. Kathy addresses matters on their front ends by advising district staff on developing legally-compliant documents such as Section 504 Plans, IEPs and related documents, and on their back ends by advising on how to respond to parent, advocate, and parent counsel demands, compliance complaints and requests for due process.

Kathy understands that the law does not place unlimited demands on her clients, and that her clients have responsibility for managing budgets and the taxpayer funds with which they have been entrusted. She works hard to prevent school districts from being taken advantage of and strives to enable them to make the most of their finite resources so that the districts can facilitate learning for all students.

Fostering teamwork, Kathy enjoys getting to know and working with a wide range of district employees, including administrators, related service providers and teachers. These connections enable her to better deliver services and resolve problems in an efficient manner. She also provides extensive employee training to help clients mitigate risks and perform their jobs more effectively.

As the parent of a special needs child and a former teacher who spent four years working with high school kids with severe disabilities, Kathy draws on valuable first-hand experience to address challenges facing special education kids and their families, as well as the staff serving them. Her educational background includes a master’s degree in special education and a teaching credential as an education specialist.

Prior to joining F3, Kathy was of counsel at an environmental and land use law firm, where she assisted clients in solving complex compliance issues. She frequently puts her outstanding communication skills to good use by authoring articles, conducting workshops, and lecturing on a variety of special education topics—and engages her audiences by weaving in anecdotes from her personal classroom experiences.

Kathy channels passion, knowledge, dedication and empathy into her practice, to the benefit of both students and school districts. She abides by the words of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who said, “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” Kathy finds it highly rewarding to support clients in bringing about that positive transformation.