Leigh E. Dalton

Contact Information

Credentials

Admissions & Legal Associations

  • Pennsylvania Bar - all courts
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
  • United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • American Bar Association
  • Pennsylvania Bar Association
  • York County Bar Association

Education

  • University of Massachusetts Amherst, B.A.
  • University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D., cum laude
  • University of Maryland Baltimore County, Ph.D.

Publications

 

  • “School Choice in Year Two of COVID-19,” The Legal Intelligencer, October 2021
  • CFCC Changed My Perception About Law and My Career Path, University of Baltimore School of Law United Family Court Connection, Winter 2021
  • The Students Most Affected by the New Era of School Choice, The Legal Intelligencer, October 16, 2020
  • Dalton, L., & Zirkel, P. (2018). The volume of higher education litigation: The latest update. West’s Education Law Reporter, 349, 877–885.
  • Reviewed: SchoolNurse.com Publishers,  Legal Resource for School Health Services, 2017
  • “Borrowing Strength” to Equitably Distribute Highly Qualified and Highly Effective Teachers as a Means to Close the Achievement Gap in Ten States, 2015.
  • ExpressO, The Cause of Racial Inequality in America Today: Innocent Victims or Guilty Victimizers, (2008). Available at: http://works.bepress.com/leigh_dalton/1, 2008
  • Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Getting Students Involved in Creating a Healthy School, co-authored with Ray Churchman and Adriane Tasco, www.healthyschoolcommunities.org, 2006
  • Student Review of Law and Society, Alimony: True Equality Under Massachusetts’ Law, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 2001

Community Involvement

  • U.S. Department of Education, Peer Reviewer
  • United Way of York County, Emerging Leaders Society
  • United Way of York County, Women United
  • Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Senior Warden
  • Wills for Heroes, York County
  • York County Bar Association, Bar Stools Production, Member/Performer/Choreographer
  • Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Adjunct Learning Facilitator
  • Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center, Trainer
  • Lehigh University Special Education Law Conference, Planning Committee Member
  • United Way Truancy Prevention Advocacy Committee
  • Council of School Attorneys (COSA) Third Circuit Legal Advocacy Committee representative; Seminar Planning Committee member
  • National School Attorneys’ Association IDEA Committee member
  • Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors’ Association, Sectional Leader

About Leigh E. Dalton

Dr. Dalton is a Partner in the firm’s School Law Group, concentrating her practice in all areas of public education, including special education, student/pupil services, compliance monitoring, and student discipline.  In March 2021, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education selected Dr. Dalton as a Peer Reviewer to evaluate and read discretionary grant program applications.

Leigh returned to Stock and Leader after serving as the Director of Legal Services for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and acting as the Chief of Special Education Monitoring and Accountability Section at the Maryland State Department of Education. Prior to joining Stock and Leader, Leigh served as the Director of the York County Truancy Prevention Initiative, a program of the United Way of York County, in partnership with the York County Bar Foundation. In that role, she provided training and education on truancy to audiences across the state.

Additionally, Dr. Dalton was influential in overseeing the implementation and expansion of the York County Youth Court Alliance in three York County school districts. In 2019, the program received the “Program of the Year Award” from the International Association of Truancy and Dropout Prevention. In 2012, she was recognized as “A Person Who Matters” in York County for her efforts in furthering the Youth Court, primarily funded by the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Dr. Dalton also serves as a Sectional Leader on the Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors’ Association.

In 2022, the Central Penn Business Journal named Leigh an honoree as a Women of Influence, an annual event recognizing a select few of women leaders in the mid-state who are influential in their companies, industries and communities, and have solid reputations based on their experience, integrity, leadership, and accomplishments. Read this article to learn why Leigh is so deserving of this honor.

Leigh holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2008, she received her Juris Doctorate after graduating cum laude from the University of Baltimore School of Law, where she was named the University’s Public Interest Grant recipient in 2006 and Public Service Scholar in 2008. In 2015, Dr. Dalton earned her Ph.D. in Education Policy from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and was recognized as an “Exceptional Graduate.”

Practice Areas