Profile

Kate is co-chair of the firm's school law practice. She began her career at Bond in 2011, where she practiced in the areas of litigation and school representation.

In 2017, she served as General Counsel to Ithaca City School District. As a member of the Superintendent's Executive Cabinet, she counseled the District in all areas of its day-to-day operations and represented the District in litigated matters.

Now in her role as outside counsel, Kate continues to provide timely, day-to-day counseling to Bond’s public and private school clients and acts as an advocate for schools in adversarial proceedings before administrative agencies, and state and federal courts. Kate has experience in the various areas of law that impact school operations and that create legal exposure for schools, including: school board governance; school elections; school finance; Taylor Law and collective bargaining; employee discipline; health care; school health services; special education; Open Meetings Law; Freedom of Information Law; student privacy; student residency and homelessness; school contracts; use of school facilities and real property; and Constitutional issues. Kate is committed to utilizing the law creatively, to advance and enhance education. Her approach to school representation is passionate and child-centered.
 

  • Listed in:
    • Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, Education Law, 2022
    • New York Super Lawyers®, Upstate New York Rising Star, Schools & Education, 2018-2022
  • Justinian Honorary Law Society, President, 2010-2011
  • Order of the Coif
  • Lead Articles Editor, Syracuse Law Review
  • Scribes Award for Excellence in Legal Writing, 2011

  • Filed a landmark complaint with the Office for Civil Rights on behalf of the Enlarged City School District of Middletown challenging New York State’s distribution of Foundation Aid, and alleging that the State’s funding practices disparately impacted minority students and English Language Learners
  • D.B. v. Ithaca City School District (2d Cir. 2017) - Affirmance of order dismissing IDEA tuition reimbursement case brought pursuant to Burlington v. Bd. of Education
  • Maguire v. Jamesville-Dewitt Central School District (N.D.N.Y. 2016) -  represented the district in dispute involving placement of autistic youth in BOCES-self-contained class
  • J.M.G. v. Ithaca City School District (2d Cir. 2013) - represented the district in IDEA placement dispute
  • Silman v. Utica College (N.D.N.Y. 2016) -  obtained summary judgment, resulting in dismissal of complaint asserting disability discrimination and retaliation pursuant to Section 504
  • King v. Utica College (Sup. Ct. Oneida County 2015) - obtained dismissal of wrongful termination action brought by former Dean of Nursing

  • District Clerk Workshop, Westchester Putnam School Boards Association, February 10, 2022
  • An Interview with Kate Reid, School Law, Legally Bond Podcast, May 10, 2021
  • Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), National Business Institute CLE Event, December 9, 2015
  • Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and Evaluations and Eligibility, National Business Institute Seminar, September 29, 2014

  • "Governor Signs Law Waiving Evaluation Requirements for 2020-21 School Year," Central New York Business Journal, June 21, 2021
  • "Increased Judicial Scrutiny for Restrictive Covenants and Claimed Trade Secrets," Bond Complex Litigation Quarterly, Spring 2015

  • Former Board Member, YWCA of Syracuse and Onondaga County