News from Thrun Law

April 21, 2025

There are many benefits, and some complications, to hiring retirees as teachers. One complication is recognizing and avoiding arrangements that constitute age discrimination. Michigan’s ELCRA and the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibit discrimination against employees because of age in hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job assignment, and training. Under the ADEA, an employee must be 40 years of age or older to be in the protected category....

April 14, 2025

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires an individualized education program (IEP) team to consider and document in the IEP whether a student with a disability qualifies for extended school year (ESY) services.

ESY is specialized instruction and related services provided beyond the normal school year, such as during summer vacation or other school breaks. ESY’s purpose is to maintain skills – not to work on obtaining new skills. A student...

April 7, 2025

When schools seek to purchase new equipment (e.g., buses, copiers, or tablets), vendors frequently offer financing packages in the form of a lease purchase agreement (LPA) or other type of financing lease with a third-party leasing company. Though seemingly straightforward, the terms contained in LPAs can be extremely detrimental to schools.

LPAs are different from “true” leases and rental agreements. In a true lease, the leasing company typically remains the equipment owner. With an...

March 31, 2025

AI note-taking tools, such as those used by Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet, offer convenience. Those tools streamline administrative tasks by generating meeting summaries, highlighting key discussions, identifying speakers, creating charts, providing task lists, and more. But using AI note-taking tools for some school meetings risks violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), waiving or breaching attorney-client privilege, and generating inaccurate information....

March 24, 2025

As part of our service to retainer clients, Thrun Law Firm will conduct a series of 1-hour webinars this spring. The Tuesdays with Thrun webinar series will be offered at no charge to our retainer clients.

Webinars will be held on the following dates/times and will cover the following topics:

  • Tuesday, April 22, 2025
    • 8:30 a.m. – 9:35 a.m.: Employee Accommodations
    • 9:45 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.: Responding to Unlawful...
March 17, 2025

To avoid an unintended contract extension or acquired tenure status, school officials must follow the applicable timelines and procedures to non-renew a probationary teacher’s contract.

Probationary Period

Following recent Teachers’ Tenure Act amendments, effective April 2, 2025, to acquire tenure, teachers must: (1) receive an “effective” or “highly effective” evaluation rating on three year-end performance evaluations, including their most recent...

March 10, 2025

Public Act 209 of 2024, effective April 2, 2025, adds Revised School Code Section 1300, which will require schools to allow a Native American individual to wear traditional regalia and bring traditional objects to ceremonies of honor. Notably, this law will apply to this school year’s graduation ceremonies.

“Traditional regalia” means any cultural, religious, or ceremonial clothing or wearable items representing a Native American’s tribal or ancestral traditions.

“Traditional...

February 27, 2025

As detailed in our January 24, 2025 E-Blast, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently rescinded its “protected areas” policy, meaning that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are no longer directed to avoid immigration enforcement actions in schools. In turn, MDE also recently released two memos addressing immigration in public schools.

The...

February 24, 2025

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a federal civil rights statute that prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. In addition to an increase in complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), we also are seeing an increase in parent requests for Section 504 hearings. Section 504 hearings require a neutral hearing officer and the presentation of testimony and other evidence. This month...

February 17, 2025

For 2025, the regular election dates for millage or bond proposals are:

May 6
August 5
November 4

While January’s blistering cold makes springtime feel far away, schools interested in placing a millage or bond proposal on the May ballot should contact their election attorney right away. A certified copy of the board resolution approving ballot language for a millage or bond proposal must be filed with the school’s election coordinator (typically...

Pages