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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...
Michigan law requires that public schools adopt their annual budgets before the beginning of the fiscal year (July 1). A taxing entity, including a school district or ISD, must follow a “truth-in-taxation” process if its anticipated operating tax revenue will exceed what it collected in the previous fiscal year (with exceptions for certain taxable additions). This process includes publishing a newspaper notice, holding a truth-in-taxation public hearing, and approving resolutions proposing...
In a March 18, 2021 memorandum, the Michigan Department of Treasury notified public employers of the “hard cap” contribution limits under the Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act for medical benefit plans starting or renewing on or after January 1, 2022.
The cap amounts were increased by 3.7% for 2022. The adjustment is based on the change in the medical...
Year-end school events often present legal landmines. Those annual challenges are now heightened by COVID-19. With the recent changes to indoor and outdoor gathering restrictions, many school officials have asked whether prom or a commencement ceremony is possible this year and, if so, what those year-end events might look like.
1. What gathering restrictions currently apply to year-end school events?
On April 16, 2021, the...