News from Thrun Law

Governor Whitmer signed Public Act 7 of 2023 into law, repealing the third grade reading and retention provisions. PA 7 is expected to take effect in late March 2024, but is technically effective 91 days after the 2023 Legislature’s final adjournment in December.

Revised School Code Section 1280f currently requires schools to retain third-grade students who are not able to read at grade level. Subject to a good-cause exemption, a third-grade student is not allowed to enroll in fourth...

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: (1) publishing a newspaper notice, (2) holding a truth-in-taxation public hearing, and (3) approving resolutions...

When school officials consider purchasing new equipment (e.g., buses, copiers, or tablets), vendors sometimes offer financing packages that use a lease purchase agreement (LPA) or other financing lease with a third-party leasing company.

LPAs are different from true leases and rental agreements. Un­like a true lease, an LPA transfers equipment ownership to the school. In exchange, the school pledges general fund dollars to make lease payments over time, which include interest that the...

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides schools and parents of students with disabilities administrative procedures to address special education concerns (e.g., due process hearings and state complaints). Generally, parents and students seeking relief available under the IDEA must first exhaust the IDEA’s administrative procedures before filing a federal lawsuit. In a case originating in Michigan, the U.S. Supreme Court recently clarified that the IDEA’s exhaustion...