Suspended Or Expelled
MCL 380.1311 — suspension or expulsion for gross misdemeanor or persistent disobedience, and the expulsions the board must order
Who may suspend or expel, and for what. The school board, or the superintendent, a principal or another official the board designates, may suspend or expel a pupil who commits criminal sexual conduct against another pupil in the district, or a pupil guilty of gross misdemeanor or persistent disobedience, if in their judgment the interest of the school is served.
When expulsion is required. A pupil who possesses a dangerous weapon in a weapon free school zone, commits arson in a school building or on school grounds, or commits criminal sexual conduct there, is expelled from the district permanently, subject to possible reinstatement.
- The object was not possessed for use as a weapon, or for delivery to another for that use.
- The weapon was not knowingly possessed.
- The pupil did not know or have reason to know the object was a dangerous weapon.
- The weapon was possessed at the suggestion, request or direction of, or with the express permission of, school or police authorities.
Those are the showings that relieve a board of expelling for a weapon, if the pupil establishes at least one of them in a clear and convincing manner. Where the board finds one established in writing and the pupil has no history of suspension or expulsion, there is a rebuttable presumption that expulsion is not justified.
A pupil who may have a disability. If there is reasonable cause to believe the pupil is a student with a disability and the district has not evaluated the pupil, the pupil is evaluated immediately.
A district's own code of conduct and board rules fill in much of the detail, and they are not on this page. How a particular suspension applies to a particular student is a question for a licensed Michigan attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- MCL 380.1311 — Suspension or expulsion of pupil
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Michigan attorney.