By Lily Guiney
Gongwer News Service
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Friday which was brought by dozens of school districts against the state after the passage of the 2026 budget nearly a year ago attached a privilege waiver to mental health and school safety funding.
Devault v. Michigan (USD Docket No. 13609) was the federal iteration of Macomb Community Schools v. Michigan (COA Docket No. 378748), which was denied for appeal by the Michigan Supreme Court in June. The case before U.S. District Court Judge Brandy McMillon posed challenges to section 31aa of the state School Aid Act of 2026 under federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
McMillon dismissed the case with prejudice, ending a nearly yearlong saga that saw some 65% of the state’s school districts opt out of receiving their share of $321 million in mental health and school safety funding from the 2025-26 budget. An amended version of the privilege waiver, originally a provision that schools must waive "any privilege that may otherwise protect information from disclosure in the event of a mass casualty event" and comply with any state investigation into that event ordered by the governor, made it into the 2026-27 budget but was only a contingent of school safety funds.
Plaintiff schools’ constitutional claims against the law were rejected as having no basis by the court, which declined to issue summary judgment.
“…the privilege waiver does not impose any unconstitutional condition, so plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is denied for this very reason,” McMillon wrote in her ruling.
The Department of Education said in its weekly communication to school districts this week that applications for this year’s round of 31aa funding are forthcoming.
Gongwer News Service
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Friday which was brought by dozens of school districts against the state after the passage of the 2026 budget nearly a year ago attached a privilege waiver to mental health and school safety funding.
Devault v. Michigan (USD Docket No. 13609) was the federal iteration of Macomb Community Schools v. Michigan (COA Docket No. 378748), which was denied for appeal by the Michigan Supreme Court in June. The case before U.S. District Court Judge Brandy McMillon posed challenges to section 31aa of the state School Aid Act of 2026 under federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
McMillon dismissed the case with prejudice, ending a nearly yearlong saga that saw some 65% of the state’s school districts opt out of receiving their share of $321 million in mental health and school safety funding from the 2025-26 budget. An amended version of the privilege waiver, originally a provision that schools must waive "any privilege that may otherwise protect information from disclosure in the event of a mass casualty event" and comply with any state investigation into that event ordered by the governor, made it into the 2026-27 budget but was only a contingent of school safety funds.
Plaintiff schools’ constitutional claims against the law were rejected as having no basis by the court, which declined to issue summary judgment.
“…the privilege waiver does not impose any unconstitutional condition, so plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is denied for this very reason,” McMillon wrote in her ruling.
The Department of Education said in its weekly communication to school districts this week that applications for this year’s round of 31aa funding are forthcoming.
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