Michigan Education Laws: Attendance, Graduation, and Funding

Michigan education laws sit primarily in the Revised School Code (Act 451 of 1976), with related statutes covering teacher tenure, school aid, open meetings, and school safety. Together they require children to attend school from age 6 through 18, set an 18-credit minimum for a high school diploma under the Michigan Merit Curriculum, guarantee a free public education under the state constitution, and fund each pupil at a foundation allowance of $10,050 for the 2025–2026 school year.¹ What follows is a working map of the rules parents, students, teachers, and board members bump into most.

Who Has to Attend School

Michigan requires parents and guardians to send children to school from age 6 through the child’s 18th birthday, for the full school year set by the district. A parent who fails to comply can be charged with a misdemeanor.²³

Section 380.1561(3) recognizes several ways to satisfy the requirement without enrolling in the local public school:

Attending a nonpublic school that teaches subjects comparable to what the local public school covers for the same age and grade.
Being taught at home in an organized program covering reading, spelling, math, science, history, civics, literature, writing, and English grammar.
Reaching age 16 and receiving parental permission to leave, with written notice to the district.
Already having graduated or completed all graduation requirements.
Attending religious instruction off school property for up to two class hours per week with a written parental request. Confirmation classes for children 12 or 13 may run up to five months.

Home Schooling and Nonpublic Schools

Which exemption you use matters. Families operating under the home education exemption at Section 380.1561(3)(f) are not required to report to the Michigan Department of Education at all — no registration, no annual filings — and are not required to maintain student records, though records are useful later for transcripts.⁴

A family that instead operates under the nonpublic school exemption at Section 380.1561(3)(a) must comply with the Private, Denominational and Parochial Schools Act and submit a Nonpublic School Membership Report to the MDE by October 31 each year.⁴ Nonpublic schools are not required to adopt the State Board’s model content standards. Nonpublic students may also take elective, nonessential courses at the local public school on a shared-time basis.⁵

What It Takes to Graduate

Every public high school student must earn at least 18 credits under the Michigan Merit Curriculum:⁶⁷

4 credits of English language arts.
4 credits of mathematics, including algebra I, geometry, and algebra II (or equivalent integrated content), plus one additional math credit. At least one math course must be taken in the student’s final year of enrollment.
3 credits of science, including biology and at least one of chemistry, physics, anatomy, or agricultural science.
3 credits of social science, including U.S. history and geography, world history and geography, economics, and a civics course.
1 credit of health and physical education.
1 credit of visual, performing, or applied arts.
2 credits of world language, referenced in Section 1278a(2).

Personal Curriculum

The 18-credit requirement isn’t rigid. Through a Personal Curriculum, a student and family can modify what’s required to fit the student’s situation. When a Personal Curriculum is requested, the district must develop one. Rules vary by circumstance:

A student with an IEP may modify any credit requirement when a disability affects the ability to access or demonstrate proficiency in a subject.
General modifications are primarily used to adjust the mathematics requirement.
Transfer students may modify credit requirements to account for coursework completed elsewhere.
Enrichment options let students go beyond the standard academic requirements.

The superintendent (or designee) and the student’s parent must both approve the Personal Curriculum before it takes effect.⁶

Student Rights and Discipline

Article VIII, Section 2 of the Michigan Constitution guarantees every student a free public elementary and secondary education, and requires each district to educate its students without discrimination based on religion, creed, race, color, or national origin.⁸ That guarantee is the floor under everything else.

School districts set their own codes of conduct, but state law constrains how they suspend or expel. Before imposing a suspension or expulsion, the decision-maker must consider seven factors:⁹

The student’s age.
The student’s disciplinary history.
Whether the student has a disability.
How serious the behavior was.
Whether the behavior threatened the safety of any student or staff member.
Whether restorative practices could address the behavior.
Whether a lesser consequence would be appropriate.

Skipping this analysis is where districts most often invite a legal challenge. The requirement to weigh restorative practices and lesser interventions means suspension and expulsion are meant to sit at the end of the response ladder, not the top.

Special Education

Special education in Michigan runs on the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) together with the Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE). Every eligible student with a disability is entitled to a free appropriate public education at public expense, delivered through an individualized education program (IEP).¹⁰

Each IEP must contain measurable annual goals and short-term objectives, and services must be delivered in the least restrictive environment: students with disabilities are educated alongside their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. Parents and guardians must be part of building and implementing the IEP.

Filing a Due Process Complaint

If you disagree with the school about your child’s special education services, you can file a due process complaint within two years of the action you’re challenging. The complaint goes to the district, with a copy to the MDE. The district must respond within 10 days, and a resolution session must occur within 15 days of the district receiving the complaint unless both sides agree in writing to skip it or use mediation instead. If a resolution session produces an agreement, either party has three days to cancel. If no agreement is reached, the case goes to a hearing before an administrative law judge. An unfavorable decision can be appealed to federal court within 90 days.

School Safety Drills

Under MCL 29.19, every school operating any of grades K through 12 must run a minimum number of safety drills each year:¹¹

At least 5 fire drills. Three must be completed by December 1; the remaining two are held during the rest of the school year.
At least 2 tornado drills, with one conducted during March.
At least 3 lockdown drills, simulating scenarios like a hazardous material release or a dangerous individual on or near the premises. One must occur by December 1 and one after January 1.

The governing body of each school must seek input from school administrators and local public safety officials when planning lockdown drills.

Act 435 of 2018 created the Office of School Safety within the Michigan Department of State Police. The office develops model safety practices, offers staff training, and works with the MDE and local law enforcement on building assessments and emergency operations planning.¹² The state also runs OK2SAY, a confidential student safety tip line administered through the state police for reporting potential threats to students, staff, or schools.

Teacher Certification, Tenure, and Renewal

Teaching licenses are issued by the MDE. To earn one, you complete a state-approved teacher preparation program and pass the Michigan Tests for Teacher Certification (MTTC), which include subject-area tests for each endorsement.¹³

Once hired, a teacher enters a five-year probationary period under the Teachers’ Tenure Act. During probation, the district must provide an individualized development plan and conduct at least one formal performance evaluation each year.¹⁴ After satisfactorily completing probation, a teacher moves to continuing tenure and cannot be dismissed or demoted except through the specific procedures in the Act.

Renewing a Standard Teaching Certificate takes 150 hours of education-related professional learning. You can meet that with 150 State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECHs), 6 semester credit hours from a recognized college or university, 150 hours of district-provided professional development, or a combination.¹⁵

How Michigan Schools Are Funded

Most K–12 funding flows through the School Aid Fund, supplemented by local property taxes and federal dollars. The State School Aid Act establishes a per-pupil foundation allowance as each district’s baseline.

For 2025–2026 that allowance is $10,050 per pupil. Some older “hold harmless” districts receive more based on historical funding levels, with foundation allowances as high as $13,885.¹ Each traditional district levies 18 mills on non-homestead property, and the state fills the gap between that local revenue and the district’s foundation allowance.

Every district must adopt an annual budget under the Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act. Within 15 days of adopting or revising the budget, the district must post it on its website (or its intermediate district’s website). Each district also undergoes at least one annual financial audit and files audit reports with its intermediate district and the MDE.¹⁶

Who Runs Michigan Schools

Governance runs through three layers: local school boards, intermediate school districts, and the MDE. Local boards hold the most direct authority — they set policy, adopt budgets, approve programs, hire the superintendent, and control the school calendar, provided the district meets the state minimum of 1,098 hours of pupil instruction per year.³

The superintendent is the board’s executive officer. Districts (other than certain small primary districts) must employ a superintendent by written contract, with terms set by the board for up to five years. If the board does not give written notice of nonrenewal at least 90 days before the contract ends, it automatically renews for another year. A district may also contract with its intermediate school district or another district’s superintendent instead of hiring directly.¹⁷

The MDE, led by the State Superintendent, provides statewide oversight and monitors compliance with state and federal education law.¹⁸

Charter Schools

Michigan’s charter schools are called public school academies (PSAs), governed under Part 6A of the Revised School Code. A PSA is a public school funded with public dollars but run independently under its own board of directors. Five kinds of entities can authorize a charter: K–12 local school district boards, intermediate school boards, community college boards, state public university governing boards (with no cap on the total number of charters state universities can issue), and joint arrangements of two or more of these acting under an interlocal agreement.¹⁹

Each PSA board must be made up of U.S. citizens who take the constitutional oath before serving. The authorizing body sets how members are selected, term lengths, and the number of members, and must ensure the board includes local community representation. PSAs draw from the same foundation allowance system as traditional districts, receiving $10,050 per pupil for 2025–2026.¹

Public Meetings and Records

School boards are public bodies covered by Michigan’s Open Meetings Act. A board must post its regular meeting schedule within 10 days of its first meeting each calendar or fiscal year, and update the posting within three days if the schedule changes. Special or rescheduled meetings require notice at least 18 hours in advance at the board’s principal office and, if the board maintains a regularly updated website, on that website too. Emergency meetings require a two-thirds vote, followed within 48 hours by written correspondence to the county board of commissioners explaining why 18-hour notice couldn’t be met.²⁰

Meeting minutes must include the date, time, place, members present and absent, decisions made, any roll call votes, and the purpose of any closed session. Proposed minutes must be available for public inspection within 8 business days of the meeting, and approved minutes within 5 business days of the meeting at which they were approved.²⁰

Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives the public broad access to district records, with exemptions for sensitive material. Districts must withhold student education records to comply with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and must exempt directory information requested for surveys, marketing, or solicitation unless the district determines the use is consistent with its educational mission and benefits students. Other exemptions cover test questions and scoring keys, medical and psychological evaluations that would identify a student, and Social Security numbers.²¹

1
Michigan House Fiscal Agency. FY 2025-26 Budget Briefing – School Aid
2
Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 380.1561 – Compulsory Attendance at Public School
3
State of Michigan. Compulsory School Attendance Policies and Grades
4
State of Michigan. Nonpublic and Home School Information 2025-2026
5
Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 380.1278 – Core Academic Curriculum
6
Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 380.1278a – Requirements for High School Diploma
7
Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 380.1278b
8
Michigan Legislature. Constitution of Michigan of 1963 Section 2 – Free Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
9
Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 380.1310d
10
State of Michigan. Michigan Administrative Rules for Special Education (MARSE) With Related IDEA Federal Regulations
11
Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 29.19
12
Michigan Legislature. Act 435 of 2018 – Office of School Safety
13
State of Michigan. Michigan Tests for Teacher Certification
14
Michigan Legislature. Teachers Tenure Act – Act 4 of 1937
15
State of Michigan. Standard Teaching Certificate Renewal
16
Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 388.1618 – The State School Aid Act of 1979 (Excerpt)
17
Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 380.1229 – Employment of Superintendent and Administrators
18
State of Michigan. General Supervision Accountability System
19
Michigan Legislature. The Revised School Code (Excerpt) Part 6A
20
Michigan Legislature. Open Meetings Act – Act 267 of 1976
21
Michigan Legislature. Freedom of Information Act (Excerpt)