BASA/OASBO Superintendent and Treasurer Symposium 2022-2023

Prior to becoming an attorney with the firm, Ms. Reedy served as chief legal counsel of the Ohio School Boards Association. She brings her depth of experience in education law and knowledge as association counsel to provide comprehensive legal representation of public schools and nonprofit entities. Ms. Reedy’s work with boards of education includes drafting and negotiating vendor contracts, drafting policy, interpreting Ohio’s ethics laws, public records, litigation, and representing boards before federal, state, and local agencies. She has extensive publication and speaking credentials. She is trained in mediation. Ms. Reedy represents districts on a full spectrum of education law issues and is a member of the firm’s School Finance, Municipalities & Public Law, and Special Education Practice Teams.

Mr. McCord is a shareholder and managing director of Ennis Britton, a state-wide school law firm.  Mr. McCord regularly counsels public boards of education on a variety of education law issues, with an emphasis on labor negotiations, employment matters, and construction issues.  Mr. McCord has many published works, presentations and submitted court briefs to his credit.

Mr. Deters is a shareholder with Ennis Britton Co., LPA. His practice has been dedicated to representing and counseling boards of education on a variety of education law issues with emphasis on labor negotiations, employment matters, student discipline, special education, and board governance. He is a member of the firm’s Municipalities & Public Law, School Finance, and Special Education Practice Teams.

Mr. Deters has negotiated on behalf of school districts in more than 400 collective bargaining agreements. He has represented boards of education before state and federal courts, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the State Employment Relations Board, the Ohio Unemployment Review Commission, and the Ohio Department of Education. He serves as the Director of Law for the Cities of Harrison and North College Hill, Ohio, and as legal counsel for Whitewater Township and the Western Joint Ambulance District, and he is a veteran of the U.S. Army. Mr. Deters is a dynamic speaker and frequently presents throughout Ohio on topics related to education law and municipal law.

Ms. Wessendorf-Wortman is a shareholder with the firm. She advises clients on a variety of educational law matters including labor and employment issues, student discipline and rights, special education and 504 matters, relationships with school resource officers, serving transgender students, employee misconduct and investigations, booster matters, and general school law practice. She is a member of the firm’s Special Education and Workers’ Compensation Practice Teams. Ms. Wessendorf-Wortman has served as a lead negotiator in bargaining and defended boards of education in arbitration, court cases, special education mediation, and due process hearings. She has represented school boards before a variety of federal and state administrative agencies, including the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the State Employment Relations Board, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

Ms. Wessendorf-Wortman is a frequent presenter at professional conferences, and at administrator and staff in-service trainings on a variety of topics including annual legal updates, professional ethics and codes of conduct, implicit bias, relationships with school resource officers, managing booster groups, serving students with disabilities, employee leave matters, and handling employee misconduct.

Phil is passionate about helping individuals and organizations become their best selves. With over 25 years of experience in education, Phil has worked as a teacher, coach, principal, director of human resources, assistant superintendent and superintendent for 11 years. As a leader in community engagement, team development, crisis communications, leadership development and leading high-level organizations, Phil focuses on the creation of meaningful relationships to bring community members, staff, administrators, parents and students together to solve problems.