District counsel urges board to consider joining social‑media and data‑breach class actions; says opt‑in window may be limited

District counsel, Mr. Schuber, briefed the board on several pending class‑action matters and recommended the France Law Group as a partnering firm for social media and data breach cases. He said his firm has partnered with France on prior matters and that recent developments in bellwether trials have prompted interest by defendants in nationwide resolutions.

Schuber described the social media litigation as the most potentially lucrative and said there may be a limited window to opt in. He drew a comparison to prior local involvement in the Juul litigation and an insulin pricing case, noting such participation historically imposed little to no upfront cost on districts. "There's really no cost to the district," he said, adding he could not guarantee settlement amounts.

To give trustees context he said past district settlements (Juul cases) were sometimes in the range of roughly $100 per student for participating districts. For the social media matters he said estimates discussed in the presentation ranged from at least $100 to up to $1,000 per student, but he emphasized these were estimates and not guarantees. He advised the board that if an opt‑in window closes before the next meeting, staff would alert trustees so they could decide whether to authorize participation before the deadline.

No formal action was taken during the work session; the item is on the consent/voting agenda for the upcoming meeting and staff materials include backup information for trustees to review.