RSC Section 1613 allows a school district or ISD to authorize local taxing jurisdictions to levy half or all school taxes on July 1 by filing a summer tax resolution with the local taxing jurisdictions. If your school currently has a summer tax levy and would like it to continue in 2024, your school’s board of education must adopt a resolution and file a copy of it with each city and township within your school’s boundaries on or before December 31, 2023.
The December 31 deadline is...
As previously announced in School Law Notes articles and E-Blasts, schools nationwide have been joining a lawsuit against Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and other social media platforms. The lawsuit asserts that those social media platforms targeted minors to maximize profits, despite knowing the severe detrimental effects of excessive social media use by minors.
The deadline to join the lawsuit is December 29, 2023. To date, over 100 Michigan...
Section 504, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) require a school to provide students with disabilities access to all programs and activities the school offers. Often, school officials erroneously believe that programs or activities offered outside the academic school day are exempt from these requirements. They are not. Although schools are not required to provide programs or activities outside the school day, those that do...
The Michigan Court of Appeals recently affirmed a Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) decision that “overage compensation” for virtual class teachers did not implicate the “pilot program” or the “use of technology” prohibited bargaining subjects under the Public Employment Relations Act (PERA). Van Buren Educ Ass’n v Van Buren Pub Schs, COA Docket No. 362076 (Aug. 24, 2023). While recently passed legislation will repeal many PERA prohibited bargaining subjects, these two...
October is National Principals Month. Having worked with principals for over 75 years, we recognize the hard work, coordination, and dedication necessary to run a school and commend you for your tireless efforts. From all of us at Thrun Law Firm, thank you!
To avoid potential state aid penalties, school officials must ensure at the beginning of the year that their teachers and administrators hold proper certificates. RSC Section 1233 prohibits schools from allowing a person without a valid teaching certificate to teach a grade or department of a school. A school that allows a noncertificated person to teach is subject to a state aid penalty equal to 50% of the teacher’s salary during the period the teacher was not certificated, as well as a...
The Uniform Grant Guidance (Guidance), issued through the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB), establishes uniform administrative require-ments, cost principles, and audit requirements for federal awards to non-federal entities (e.g., schools). Given the waves of ESSER funding over the last few years, school officials have likely become familiar with federal procurement requirements. For Thrun Policy Service subscribers, federal procurement is governed by Policy 3301A.
In...
This article is the second in a series analyzing recent labor law changes. This month’s topic examines the repeal of Public Employment Relations Act (PERA) Section 15b, MCL 423.215b, widely referred to as PA 54. Since June 8, 2011, PA 54 has prohibited public employers from automatically increasing wages and benefits, including step, lane, and longevity increases, during the time between the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and the ratification of its successor. PA 54...
Governor Whitmer recently signed into law Public Act 51 of 2023, which limits school officials’ authority to discipline a student who reports or is reported to have been sexually assaulted. The legislative intent of PA 51 is to increase reporting of sexual assault by limiting consequences to victims for conduct related to the reported sexual assault. For example, if a student reports sexual assault to school administrators and that student was in a prohibited location on campus when the...
When is a school responsible for a special education student’s excessive absences? According to a recent Michigan special education due process case handled by Thrun Law Firm, it depends on whether the cause of the student’s absences is within the school’s control. M.R. v Montrose Community Schools, Case No. DP-22-0098 (June 29, 2023).
When a student is excessively absent from school, it starts the school’s truancy process. If the student receives special education services,...