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Neither the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services nor any other governmental agency has yet issued an order requiring students or staff to wear face masks for the upcoming school year. MDHHS, however, has released...
Schools are typically required by law, policy, or contract to conduct an investigation before an employee is discharged, suspended without pay, or otherwise deprived of an employment benefit due to alleged misconduct. In light of a significant increase in the number of employee investigations we have seen, this article provides tips for school officials conducting or overseeing investigations. This article is not intended as a checklist for all employee investigations or to enu...
As school boards adopt their budgets for the 2021-22 school year, school officials should be mindful that State School Aid Act Section 18 creates a timeline to post the annual budget and required financial information. Within 15 days after a school board adopts its annual operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year or adopts a subsequent budget revision, the school must post or provide a link to the budget on its or its ISD’s homepage.
Within the same timeframe, schools also must...
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) II funds as part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. Many school officials have asked us how they can spend those funds.
MDE, the pass-through entity and funds gatekeeper, issued a memorandum dated February 24, 2021, enumerating the allowable uses of ESSER II funds....
In a landmark decision issued June 23, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (8-1) that the First Amendment’s speech clause protected profane Snapchats sent by a high school cheerleader from her personal phone to her friends while off-campus and outside school hours. Accordingly, the school could not discipline her for the messages, which are protected speech. Mahanoy Area Sch Dist v BL, 594 U.S. ___ (2021). The Court did not rule, however, that schools may never discipline...
School officials often inquire about whether they can use “cooperative purchasing” to satisfy statutory competitive bidding requirements. Cooperative purchasing typically involves piggybacking on an intergovernmental pool, bid cooperative, purchasing consortium, or group purchasing organization. If authorized by board policy, cooperative purchasing is permissible to procure supplies, materials, and equipment under competitive bidding requirements. Cooperative purchasing, however, is not...
In a recent published decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that documents discussed by a public body during a closed session meeting may be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Traverse City Record Eagle v Traverse City Area Pub Sch Bd of Educ, COA Docket No. 354586 (May 13, 2021).
The Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) Board of Education convened a public meeting to consider complaints against then-Superintendent Ann Cardon....
Our April 26, 2018 edition of School Law Notes highlighted myriad changes to the Office of Civil Rights Case Processing Manual (CPM) that would directly affect schools. One of the most noteworthy changes to the CPM allowed OCR to dismiss a complaint in its entirety if the complaint was either (1) a continuation of a pattern of complaints previously filed with OCR against multiple recipients or (2) filed for the first time against multiple recipients, and the complaint placed an “an...
The Michigan Finance Authority (MFA) August 2021 state aid note program materials, including the loan application, cash flow form, instructions, and calendar, are now available on the MFA’s website at www.michigan.gov/mfa. For general powers school districts and ISDs, click on State Aid Note Program (SAN) located under the “Finance Programs” heading on the MFA’s homepage. The general powers school district and ISD filing deadline to submit...
Although there has been a recent emphasis on addressing sex-based harassment, school officials must also act promptly and appropriately to ensure they are not “deliberately indifferent” to harassment and discrimination based on other protected characteristics, including disability. A federal court in Pennsylvania recently denied a school’s motion to dismiss claims of disability harassment and discrimination under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities...