School Boards Must Hold Meetings Electronically Through February 21st

On January 22, 2021, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued an order effectively extending the indoor gathering limitations through February 21, 2021. Although the order lists certain ex­ceptions to the indoor gathering limitations, no excep­tion allows in-person school board meetings indoors. Consequently, school boards must hold indoor meet­ings through electronic means only during that time.

Back on December 23, 2020, Governor Whitmer signed Public Act 254 of 2020 into law, amending the Open Meetings Act (OMA) to allow school boards to hold electronic meetings for any reason until March 30, 2021. Boards can only hold electronic meetings, how­ever, if they develop and implement statutory procedures.

In response to multiple client requests, Thrun Law Firm has developed a model Electronic Board Meeting Package (Package), which contains documents that will assist your board with implementing the recent OMA amendments.

The Package includes a model policy, a board resolution adopting the policy, advance notice of re­mote participation instructions, a remote attendance script, an electronic board meeting notice, an affidavit of website posting, and an electronic board meeting checklist. School officials will be able to personalize the Package by completing a few blanks.

The Package cost is $250 for retainer clients and $400 for non-retainer clients. If you are a Thrun Law Firm Policy Service client, the Package was emailed to your listed contact on Friday, January 15, 2021, at no charge. If you would like to purchase the Package, please click here to download the TLF-OMA Package Order Form.