Michigan — school discipline

Governing authority stated in the sources

The Revised School Code, Act 451 of 1976: MCL 380.1311 (suspension or expulsion of pupil), 380.1310d (the factors a board must consider, and the rebuttable presumption), 380.1310c (restorative practices), 380.1310 (physical assault against another pupil), and 380.1311a (physical assault against an employee, volunteer, or contractor). Each section PDF states the compilation's currency in its own footer, "Michigan Compiled Laws Complete Through PA91 of 2026", and its own rendering date, "Rendered Tuesday,August 25, 2026". The factors section carries the history line "History:Add. 2016,Act 360, Eff.Aug. 1, 2017" and the restorative-practices section "History:Add. 2016,Act 361, Eff.Aug. 1, 2017". — MCL 380.1311, retrieved Aug 29, 2026

The lines the state draws

Michigan draws two, at different places and for different purposes. For the factors section, the line is sixty school days: "Expel" there "means to exclude a pupil from school for disciplinary reasons for a period of 60 or more school days", and "Suspend" "means to exclude a pupil from school for disciplinary reasons for a period of fewer than 60 school days". (MCL 380.1310d(5)(a), (c)) For the presumption, the line is ten days: "In exercising this discretion with regard to a suspension of more than 10 days or an expulsion, there is a rebuttable presumption that a suspension or expulsion is not justified unless the board or board of directors, or its designee, can demonstrate that it considered each of the factors listed under subsection (1)." And below that line the duty remains without the presumption: "For a suspension of 10 or fewer days, there is no rebuttable presumption, but the board or board of directors, or its designee, shall consider each of the factors listed under subsection (1)." (MCL 380.1310d(2)) A separate and mandatory category runs alongside both: on a dangerous weapon in a weapon free school zone, arson, or criminal sexual conduct, the board "shall expel the pupil from the school district permanently, subject to possible reinstatement under subsection (6)", unless the pupil establishes one of four stated matters "in a clear and convincing manner". (MCL 380.1311(2))

Offices and appeal bodies in these sources

The decision-makers are the school board and, where the board designates them, the superintendent, a building principal, or another district official. (MCL 380.1311(1)) The sources state no appeal of a suspension or expulsion to any state body. What they state instead is a reinstatement petition to the expelling board, and if that board denies it, a petition to a different district's board: "If the expelling school board denies a petition for reinstatement, the parent or legal guardian or, if the individual is at least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, the individual may petition another school board for reinstatement of the individual in that other school district." (MCL 380.1311(6)) The petition is reviewed by a committee of "2 school board members, 1 school administrator, 1 teacher, and 1 parent of a pupil in the school district" (MCL 380.1311(6)(d)), and the outcome is stated to be the end of the road: "The decision of the school board is final." (MCL 380.1311(6)(f)) The petitioner bears the work: "It is the responsibility of the parent or legal guardian or, if the individual is at least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, of the individual to prepare and submit the petition." (MCL 380.1311(6)(c))
No state office, phone number, or email for parents appears in the sources reviewed. No Michigan Department of Education guidance is captured here: michigan.gov/mde answered the fetcher used for this review with HTTP 403, which is a fact about the transport rather than a finding about the agency, and the capture is recorded as pending.

Sources last checked

Aug 29, 2026

Reproduced from the state's own statutes quoted below: potentially relevant official sources, not a determination of which one governs any situation.

This page assembles what Michigan publishes in statute about K-12 school discipline. This is a baseline docket page: the governing sections, the lines the state draws, and the decision-makers and the reinstatement route, quoted with dates. The full sections (the framework route by route, the four hoisted process rows, every stated timeline, the district delegation map, and records access) follow as the discipline layer deepens behind its breadth sprint; the change log states exactly what is not yet captured. The feature that distinguishes Michigan's scheme is a list. Before a suspension or expulsion under the sections it governs, a board or its designee "shall consider each of the following factors": "(a) The pupil's age." "(b) The pupil's disciplinary history." "(c) Whether the pupil is a student with a disability." "(d) The seriousness of the violation or behavior committed by the pupil." "(e) Whether the violation or behavior committed by the pupil threatened the safety of any pupil or staff member." "(f) Whether restorative practices will be used to address the violation or behavior committed by the pupil." "(g) Whether a lesser intervention would properly address the violation or behavior committed by the pupil." (MCL 380.1310d(1)) Restorative practices have their own section, and their own ordering: "If a school board or its designee decides not to suspend or expel a pupil for a disciplinary issue, the school board or its designee shall consider using restorative practices to address the disciplinary issue." The statute also states a preference: "Restorative practices should be the first consideration to remediate offenses such as interpersonal conflicts, bullying, verbal and physical conflicts, theft, damage to property, class disruption, and harassment and cyberbullying." (MCL 380.1310c(1), (2)) Two provisions a parent may not expect. On disability, the general section requires an evaluation to be triggered by the discipline itself: "If there is reasonable cause to believe that the pupil is a student with a disability, and the school district has not evaluated the pupil in accordance with rules of the superintendent of public instruction to determine if the pupil is a student with a disability, the pupil shall be evaluated immediately by the intermediate school district of which the school district is constituent in accordance with section 1711." (MCL 380.1311(1)) And on referral after a permanent expulsion: "If a school board expels an individual under subsection (2), the school board shall ensure that, within 3 days after the expulsion, an official of the school district refers the individual to the appropriate county department of social services or county community mental health agency and notifies the individual's parent or legal guardian or, if the individual is at least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, notifies the individual of the referral." (MCL 380.1311(5)) When a reinstatement petition may be filed depends on the pupil's grade at the time of the expulsion: "For an individual who was in grade 6 or above at the time of expulsion, the parent or legal guardian or, if the individual is at least age 18 or is an emancipated minor, the individual may initiate a petition for reinstatement at any time after the expiration of 150 school days after the date of expulsion." (MCL 380.1311(6)(a)) For a student with an IEP or Section 504 plan, the disability layer lives on this site's Michigan special education page. Confirm applicability with the district and the agencies. All dates on this page are quoted from the sources, not a deadline calculation performed for you.