Avery Doninger was disqualified by officials at Lewis
Mills High School ("LMHS"), in Burlington, Connecticut,
from running for senior class secretary after posting on her
weblog a "vulgar and misleading message about the supposed
cancellation" of a school event called "Jamfest".
Doninger and her mother sued to force LMHS to allow her
to run for secretary, which was denied by a U.S. district
court (See School Law Notes, November 21, 2007). They
appealed the decision, but the Second Circuit Court of

The Indiana Supreme Court has reversed a trial court's
decision that a middle school student was a "delinquent
child" for posting statements about her former principal on
the internet website myspace.com, A.B. v Indiana, Doc No.
67501-0709-JV-373 (Ind, May 13, 2008). The middle
school student, A.B., posted critical statements regarding her
former principal, Shawn Gobert, after transferring to another
school. The trial court ruled that A.B. was a delinquent
child because her statements, if made by an adult, would

Effective May 28, 2008, Public Act 141 (the "Act")
amended the Revised School Code to allow a student to be
absent up to one full day because his or her parent, legal
guardian, or sibling is a service member being deployed to
or returning from active duty. MCL 380.1138. The Act
also allows a student to be absent from school for up to two
full school days if the location of the deployment or return
is more than 300 miles from the student's home. Under
these circumstances, school officials must consider the

Those attending the MASSP Summer Retreat received the inside scoop as to the legislative directions the association is going. We put it right up front, it's not wise of an associaiton of school principals to support legislative attempts that will create a headline that reads - Principals Support Lower Academic Standards. We have made significant inroads within the Department of Education and Legislative and Policy leaders to redirect the benchmarks to essential skills creating a priority for teacher and giving them much needed direction.

Day One:  Jim Ballard presented and discussed update efforts to amend Michigan Merit Exam with School Aid Act...Sec 104.  All non-free students will pay for retakes, require all three parts of WorkKeys to be administered, requires the Department to identify specific GLCEs to be taught before and after grade 11.

Discussed:  Senate Bills 842 and 1275--Changes to CEU expectations and reading benchmarks, Principal's Bill of Rights tied to school penalties, updates on raising the compulsory school age to 18, and the "MI Math Wars" (amending MMC)

State Senator Gary Peters, while serving on the Senate Education Committee was a good friend of our association and educators in general. He listened to all sides, was thoughtful, and while following his caucus always was able to put in needed "course corrections" in legislation.

After leaving the Senate he ran for AG but was not successful. He went on to run the MI Lottery for a number of years. Now he running to represent the 9th Congressional District in Michigan. He is running against Joe Knollenberg.

As I stand before various education groups the questions that come at me are often telling of what's being discussed over the coffee table. Lately, it's been, "I've read that colleges are dropping using the ACT or SAT for admission?" What is implied is, our efforts to have the ACT as the foundation for our high school tests were a mistake. I still believe MASSP did the right thing and here's why.

- We know that most colleges/universities still require official ACT/SAT scores from those who are enrolling.

Jim and Diane talk with Guest Barb Fardell from the Michigan Department of Education about Seat Time Requirements.

There are two accompanying documents attached.