Kendra Yoch
As a former special educator and daughter of a special educator, Kendra brings a practical, student-centered approach to representing schools and has a passion for supporting schools in complex and critical issues and disputes.
Kendra partners with public school districts, charter schools, private schools, and higher education institutions to problem solve related to student issues, focusing on special education, Section 504, Title IX, and other civil rights.
Kendra supports IEP and 504 teams and serves as lead counsel in special education mediations and due process hearings. She represents schools in complaints before the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Texas Education Agency. Kendra recently successfully defended a school district in a due process hearing related to child find. She also supported a large school district in a significant special education State corrective action matter involving numerous stakeholders.
Kendra consults with schools to support Title IX compliance and also serves as an independent investigator, Title IX decisionmaker, and Title IX advisor. She frequently provides Title IX training to K12 and higher education institutions.
Kendra is a frequent presenter at education conferences, speaking about the intersection of Title IX and special education, the use of artificial intelligence in special education, and other practical and current topics.
Prior to joining Thompson and Horton in Dallas, Kendra represented schools in Illinois, and prior to that, she served in the general counsel’s office for the District of Columbia Public Schools, handling hundreds of special education due process complaints. Before attending law school, Kendra taught seventh and eighth grade special education reading and language arts in Houston ISD as a Teach for America corps member. She was a Division I collegiate swimmer and a silver medalist at the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. Kendra and her husband swim on a masters team and are teaching their two young children to swim as well.
