Workshops and Presenters

Attorney Carl P. Beard is President of Beard Legal Group P.C. He is a 1977 graduate of Lycoming College and a 1980 graduate of the Ohio Northern University College of Law. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania. Mr. Beard served as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Industrial Relations at the Graduate School of Industrial Relations at Saint Francis University for 15 years. He practices in the areas of school, special education, labor, employment and municipal law, and represents employers across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in arbitrations, defense of employment discrimination lawsuits, and in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements. Mr. Beard has represented schools for more than 25 years on special education issues including due process hearings and in Federal Court. Mr. Beard was the President to the Pennsylvania School Solicitor’s Association in 2007 and from 1987 to 1991 Mr. Beard served as Director of Labor Relations Services and Legal Counsel for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Mr. Beard has presented on topics of interest to school districts across the state as well as across the country and has spoken at national conferences for the Council of School Attorneys, National School Boards’ Association and as well as to the Pennsylvania Bar Association and Federal Bar Association. On June 13, 2011, Mr. Beard was honored for his distinguished contribution to law and education, and to the Dr. Samuel Francis School Law Symposium and Special Education Workshop by the Tri-State Area School Study Council, Administrative and Policy Studies School of Education and School of Law of the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Beard was also awarded the Pennsylvania School Study Council Award for Outstanding Service to Public Education 2018 William S. Vincent Award for Excellence in Support of Public Education.  Attorney Beard is recognized by his peers as a Super Lawyer in Pennsylvania.

Attorney Charlie Jelley received his undergraduate and master degree from Slippery Rock State University. Attorney Jelley received his first law degree from Duquesne Law School, and received his second law degree, an LL.M. in Health Law, from the University of Loyola School of Law, Institute for Health Law in Chicago, Illinois. From 1980–1991, Attorney Jelley worked for Westmoreland County ARC as a lay advocate, then as the Director of Educational and Legislative Advocacy, and then for a short period of time after graduating from law school as the Executive Director. Attorney Jelley was the co-editor of the Health Law Institute’s first health law journal, The Annuals of Health Law. In 1991, Attorney Jelley’s LLM thesis focused on the application of the anti-discrimination provision in Section 504, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Action (ERISA) as applied to persons with disabilities accessing health insurance. After graduating from Loyola, Attorney Jelley worked as a consultant to the Chiropractic Legal Defense Fund in Englewood Colorado. Attorney Jelley, then resumed his school law practice in Westmoreland County Pennsylvania. Attorney Jelley’s practice focuses on children’s issues, school law, juvenile justice, children and youth services, health law, disability law, medical assistance issues, community services, estate planning for families of persons with disabilities, civil rights litigation, and legislative/policy analyses for persons with disabilities. Attorney Jelley, once served as the solicitor for the Parent Education Network, an IDEA funded Parent Training Initiative. From July 2015 through July 2025, Attorney Jelley was a Special Education Due process hearing officer in Pennsylvania. Attorney Jelley is the past co-chairman of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Exceptional Children’s Committee. He is also a past member of the Westmoreland County Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Ned Nakles Inns of Court.

Dr. Shirley Woika earned a bachelor’s degree in special education, with certificates in Special and Elementary Education, from The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Woika earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in School Psychology from Penn State. She completed additional studies to earn a supervisory certificate in Special Education from Penn State and a superintendent’s letter of eligibility from Shippensburg University. Additionally, she is a licensed psychologist.

Dr. Woika has worked in education for over 40 years. She began her career as a teacher and later served as a school psychologist. She was recognized as School Psychologist of the Year by her state association (ASPP). She went on to serve as a special education supervisor and a central office administrator. Dr. Woika then accepted the position of Director of Clinical & Field Training in Penn State’s APA-accredited School Psychology Program. She served in that role for 16 years before retiring. At present, she continues to engage in private practice and contract work. She enjoys presenting at conferences and inservice trainings, and she is active in state-wide professional organizations.

Dr. Ray Christner is a licensed psychologist, a nationally certified school psychologist, a nationally registered health service psychologist, and a board-certified specialist in Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology (ABPP). With more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in psychological and neuropsychological assessment, cognitive-behavioral intervention, forensic consultation, and evidence-based practice across educational and clinical settings. Dr. Christner maintains an independent practice providing comprehensive evaluations, psychotherapy, consultation, and expert witness services for children, adolescents, and adults, both in person and through telepsychology across 43 states. An internationally recognized author, speaker, and educator, he has delivered more than 250 professional presentations and authored numerous publications, including Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions in Educational Settings (3rd ed.). He is committed to advancing evidence-based psychological practice through continuing education, consultation, and professional training. His presentations are known for translating complex research into practical strategies that clinicians can implement immediately.

Attorney Kristen C. Weidus, is a Partner at Ruder Law.  Prior to joining the firm, she was an associate attorney at Tremba, Kinney, Greiner & Kerr, LLC, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and served as co-counsel  in the G.L.  v. Ligonier Valley School District case, No. 14-1387 (3d Cir. 2015).    As a resident of Greensburg, Kristen remains active in the Westmoreland Bar Association, currently serving on the Membership Committee and formerly chairing the Young Lawyers Committee. She received the Westmoreland Bar Association's Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in 2016, and currently serves as a Zone 6 Delegate in the Pennsylvania Bar Association's House of Delegates. Kristen was also selected as a Pennsylvania Rising Star by SuperLawyers in 2021.

Kristen graduated magna cum laude from the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law in Washington, DC in 2012. She worked as a law student attorney in the Took Crowell Institute for At-Risk Youth, representing students with disabilities enrolled in the DC Public Schools. Kristen also served as President of the Women’s Law Society, Articles Editor for the Law Review, and President and Founder of the UDC-DCSL Disability Rights and Advocacy Society.

Kristen graduated cum laude from Hiram College in 2009. Beginning in 2000, she worked for the HELP Foundation Summer Program, an extended school year program that serves children with disabilities in Northeast Ohio.