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As the school year winds down, we recommend contacting your favorite Thrun Law Firm attorney to get back-to-school professional development sessions on the calendar! Back-to-school is a busy time, and many schools have already scheduled professional development. We recommend considering professional development in the following...
On March 5, 2018, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released its new case processing manual (“CPM”), which details its procedures for investigating, resolving, and dismissing complaints. The updated procedures contain many important changes, some of which are highlighted below.
Complaints
The recipient of a complaint now can request a copy of the complaint filed against it. This change will benefit schools that previously had to make a FOIA...
With high school graduation fast approaching, we are providing several recommended strategies for addressing common graduation-related legal issues.
Diplomas and “Walking” at Graduation
The end of the school year may usher in “senioritis” and senior pranks, tempting school officials to withhold a student’s...
As part of our service to retainer clients, Thrun Law Firm, P.C. will host its annual client seminars at five locations this spring. Our spring seminars are a 30-year tradition and are offered at no charge to our retainer clients. For the first time, each seminar will conclude with an attorney Q & A panel to address pertinent...
Glen Lake Community Schools’ former superintendent (“Superintendent”) resigned a few years ago after the board ordered an independent audit of whether the district had appropriately tracked administrators’ time off. The audit was ordered following the Superintendent’s use of leave, including leave protected by the Family and...
Public Act 23 of 2018 amends Section 705 of the Revised School Code to allow public school academies (PSAs) and intermediate school districts (ISDs) to receive a portion of the revenue generated from a regional enhancement millage approved or renewed on or after May 15, 2018.
With ISD-wide voter approval, the Revised School Code allows an ISD to levy a “regional enhancement millage” of up to three mills and distribute the revenue to its constituent schools. Regional enhancement...
Recently, the Sixth Circuit issued a unanimous decision that established “discrimination on the basis of transgender and transitioning status violates Title VII.” In EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes, Inc, the employer, a funeral home, fired an employee, Aimee Stephens, who was in the process of transitioning from male to female. The employee sued, claiming that the employer discriminated against her on the basis of sex.
Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating...
In a case handled by Thrun Law Firm, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) decision, which found that a union committed an unfair labor practice by demanding to arbitrate a school’s decision to issue a written reprimand to a teacher. Ionia Co Intermediate Ed Ass’n v Ionia Co Intermediate Sch Dist, Case No. 334573 (February 22, 2018). While MERC has consistently held that a decision involving teacher discipline is a prohibited...
MDE issued a memorandum this month reminding schools of sexual harassment obligations under State and federal law. MDE noted that both Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and Title IX of the Education Amendments Act prohibit sexual harassment, a prohibition that protects all individuals, including students, employees, parents, and guardians.
MDE stressed that schools have numerous obligations under Title IX, including the following:
Boards planning to nonrenew an administrator’s employment contract must take steps to comply with the timelines and procedural requirements in Section 1229 of the Revised School Code. Failure to follow the statutory nonrenewal process (or related contract provisions) may result in the administrator’s contract renewing for an...