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ensure that they are applied uniformly to all school districts. Delton Kellogg
Schools (MA 12-4); Galien Township School District (MA 12-1); McBain Rural
Agricultural School (MA 11-1); Port Huron Area School District (MA 10-1);
Parchment School District (MA 08-1). In addition, the Legislature has expressly
mandated that districts comply with the requirements established in the pupil
accounting manual approved by the Department and that, if a district fails to do so,
the Department must withhold state school aid. MCL 388.1618(4)(d) and (10).
Thus, the Departments responsibilities include the uniform application of the pupil
accounting manual and the administration of state school aid funds in full
compliance with it. Galien Township, supra; McBain, supra.
The burden of demonstrating satisfaction of all legal requirements to establish
eligibility for state aid lies with the district claiming such eligibility. Delton Kellogg,
supra; Life Skills Center of Pontiac (MA 12-2); Galien Township, supra; McBain,
supra; Port Huron, supra;Parchment, supra; LAnse Creuse Schools (MA 00-1);
Hamtramck Public Schools (MA 94-1); Bendle Schools (MA 93-2); Coopersville Area
Public Schools (MA 92-10). The Department, which is subject to monitoring by the
Auditor General to ensure compliance with its legal responsibilities, has no equitable
authority to deviate from legal requirements. McBain, supra; Port Huron, supra;
Westwood Community School District (MA 01-3); Beacon International Academy
(MA 01-1); Lansing School District (MA 91-9); Orchard View Schools (MA 90-2).
One of the bases for Ms. Krefmans denial of the appeal was the following
provision of the Revised School Code.
Board of Education that contain no mention of MEP or the iSchool program. Exhibit
5 is entitled Seat Time Waiver Implementation Plan. That document does not
address the issue of whether there was ultimately a contractual relationship
between Ithaca and iSchool teachers.
One teacher whose name is advanced in support of the assertion that there was no
violation of MCL 380.1231(1) is Terre Smith. It is not disputed that Ms. Smith is a
certificated teacher who was employed by Ithaca during the 2014-2015 school year.
It is asserted in the legal analyses prepared by MEP that she was the teacher of
record for the iSchool program. There is no factual support for this assertion.
Indeed, the sole documentation submitted in this matter that squarely addresses
Ms. Smiths status vis--vis the iSchool program is her April 29, 2016 affidavit
submitted by the Department. Therein, she stated that she was employed by
Ithaca as a school counselor during the 2014-2015 school year, that she had no
involvement with or responsibility for the iSchool program operated by MEP during
the 2014-2015 school year, that she was not the teacher of record for the iSchool
program during the 2014-2015 school year, and that it was not until the fall of 2015
that she learned that she had been designated as the teacher of record for the
iSchool program for the 2014-2015 school year.[3] The accuracy of this affidavit is
not called into question by any other documentation presented in this matter.
For all these reasons, I find that the required contractual relationship between
Ithaca and the iSchool teachers was not established in this case. Denial of this
appeal in its entirety is therefore proper.
ORDER
Based on my review of this matter and for the above reasons, I deny Ithaca Public
Schools appeal of the first level agency decision and I order the following.
I uphold the deduction of 162 FTEs from Ithaca Public Schools Fall 2014 pupil
membership count and I uphold the deduction of 149 FTEs from Ithaca Public
Schools Spring 2015 pupil membership count.
This decision is being transmitted to the director of the Office of State Aid and
School Finance of the Department of Education for implementation.
___________________________________
Brian J. Whiston
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Dated: May 17, 2016
[1] Ms. Suggitt conducted the audit because the Gratiot-Isabella Regional Education
Service District auditor was not available. See also MCL 388.1615.
[2] In the exercise of my discretion in this matter, which is not a contested case as defined
in section 3 of the Administrative Procedures Act, MCL 24.203(3), (seeGalien Township
supra at n 1; LAnse Creuse, supra), I have considered documents that were submitted to
the Department by Ithaca in the matter involving imposition of a state aid penalty under
MCL 388.1763.
[3] It is not clear from the affidavit who designated Ms. Smith as the teacher of
record or when that designation occurred, but she clearly denied that she was the
2014-2015 iSchool teacher of record.
This is a publication of the Michigan Department of Education. The written
document, as issued, is the authoritative source of the content and format of
the decision.