News from Thrun Law

With funding cuts inevitable for the 2020-21 fiscal year, it may be necessary for schools to eliminate or combine positions and lay off staff members. The legal and contractual requirements for layoffs vary greatly between employee groups and are dependent on statutory provisions, collective bargaining agreements, individual contracts, and board policy. Failure to adhere to legal and contractual requirements could negate the layoff and lead to potential liability.

The layoff process...

Given the present circumstances, it may be easy to forget to provide employees “reasonable assurance” for a job in the 2020-21 school year. Under the Michigan Employment Security Act, schools should provide em­ployees with reasonable assurance that they will have a position for the following school year. The reasonable assurance is not a guarantee of employment but is, instead, a good faith belief that a position will be available for the employee the following school year.

Providing...

Governor Whitmer signed into law Public Act 45 of 2020, effective June 1, 2020, which amends the Con­struction of School Buildings Act to permit a temporary door locking device or system to be installed in school buildings. The Act clarifies that this installation does not violate the Fire Code.

A “temporary door locking device or system” (lockdown device) is an “anchoring mechanism or sys­tem installed on the interior side of a door that, when engaged, secures the door against forced...

As the end of the school year approaches, school officials must make important and timely personnel de­cisions about the continued employment of probationary teachers and follow the applicable time­lines and procedures to nonrenew a probationary teacher’s contract. The COVID-19 crisis and the Gover­nor’s Executive Orders did not suspend or extend the probationary teacher nonrenewal timelines. Acting outside of the required timelines and procedures will result in an unintended contract...