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Superintendents, charter leaders tell lawmakers clerical certification errors trigger six-figure fines; MDE says law limits discretion
Summary
Superintendents and a charter CEO told the House Appropriations Subcommittee that clerical or reporting errors have led to large fines (examples ranged from tens of thousands to more than $160,000); Michigan Department of Education officials agreed penalties can be excessive and said statutory limits constrain department discretion while proposing reporting and technical fixes.
Superintendents and charter leaders told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on School Aid that current pupil-accounting and certification rules can impose disproportionate financial penalties on districts for clerical errors, and they urged lawmakers to change statutory language to allow corrective processes.
"These fines are not unique," Gene Pierce, superintendent at Tuscola Intermediate School District, told the committee, citing a Kingston Community Schools case that received an initial $85,136 penalty that was later reduced to roughly $83,000 after an appeal. Pierce said the state-maintained list of assessed penalties appears incomplete and had not been updated since…
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