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Wayne County Board approves policy on private‑school withdrawals despite legal concerns
Summary
The Wayne County Board of Education approved Policy 4405 — governing withdrawals to private or homeschool settings — by a 5‑2 vote after members debated whether the language overstepped the district's legal authority and how it would affect student accountability reporting.
The Wayne County Board of Education on Aug. 4 approved Policy 4405, governing withdrawals when a student leaves a public school to attend a private school or homeschool, by a 5‑2 vote after an extended discussion about legal authority and student accountability.
Board members and staff said the policy aims to improve the district’s ability to track where students go after withdrawal, which affects state student accountability reporting. Board member Bridgette Cowen raised concerns that parts of the draft “step outside of our authority” by appearing to direct private schools to take specific actions. Cowen and another member urged changes to wording that currently says private schools “must make an official request” for a student’s records.
Supporters said the policy is intended to protect district accountability counts by ensuring a receiving school requests records before the district withdraws a student from its rolls. A district staff member explained the draft was meant to “guard against the scenario where a parent says to the principal, ‘I’m withdrawing my kid and I’m enrolling them in private school,’” and the public school wants documentation from the private school before completing the withdrawal.
Members debated how the district’s student accountability coding interacts with the policy. The board discussed the W2 withdrawal code used in the state’s accountability system and noted the district can withdraw a student under that code when no records request has been received — but the code can create an accountability “flag” if the district cannot document where the student went. Several board members said the language should avoid mandatory commands to private entities and instead focus on district procedures, such as not finalizing a withdrawal until a receiving school requests records.
Board member comments also noted an exception related to parents withdrawing children under age 7 for homeschooling, which state rules allow without prior homeschool approval; several members said the draft policy did not reflect that reality and should be clarified.
After discussion, the board voted to approve Policy 4405 as written; the meeting transcript records the result as 5 in favor and 2 opposed. The policy was discussed as a committee item and moved to the full board for adoption.
The vote concluded a long policy‑committee review cycle; board members said they intend to continue monitoring how the policy operates with state guidance and the district’s student information coding.
No formal enforcement mechanism for private schools was cited during the discussion; board members and staff said the policy’s purpose is internal accountability and recordkeeping rather than regulation of private institutions.
