It’s important for parents, students, and employees to stay aware of school policy notices at Whitmore Lake Public Schools. Understand these policies that satisfy notification requirements of State and/or Federal Law can help all members of WLPS participate in a safe and enjoyable journey through our educational system.
Please review the following school policy notices at WLPS so that you’re aware of what WLPS condones, rights afforded to individuals and WLPS, and other important information. For questions regarding all school policies, please contact your building’s principal or Superintendent Tom DeKeyser at 734-449-4464 or by email at tom.dekeyser@wlps.net.
The federal law known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students who are 18 years of age or older (“eligible students”) certain rights with
respect to the student’s education records. These rights are:
“Directory information” regarding a student may be released to any requesting person or party, in addition to the eligible student or his/her parent, without written consent. The Board of Education
has defined “directory information” to include a student’s:
• Name;
• Address and telephone number;
• Photograph;
• Birth date and place of birth;
• Participation in School District related programs and extracurricular activities;
• Academic awards and honors;
• Height and weight, if a member of an athletic team;
• Honors and awards; and
• Dates of attendance and date of graduation.
In the event inconsistency exists between the Board of Education policy defining “directory information” and this annual notification, the policy prevails.
Each year, the Superintendent, or his/her designee, will provide public notice to students and parents of the School District’s intent to make directory information available to students and parents.
Eligible students and parents may refuse to allow the School District to disclose any or all of such directory information upon written notification to the School District within thirty (30) days after receipt of the School District’s public notice. Parents may submit written notification to the building principal of their child’s school.
The School District will comply with a legitimate request for access to education records within a reasonable period of time, but not more than thirty (30) days after receiving the request or within a shorter period as may be applicable by law to students with disabilities. The requesting party may be charged a processing fee for the information.
The School District is required to provide United States Armed Forces recruiters with at least the same access to student directory information as is provided to other entities offering educational or employment opportunities to those students as is permitted and/or required by law. “Armed forces of the United States” means the armed forces of the United States and their reserve components and the United States Coast Guard. An eligible student or the parent may submit a signed, written direction to the School District that the student’s directory information not be accessible to United States Armed Forces recruiters. In such case, the information will not be disclosed.
As permitted by FERPA, the School District may forward education records, including disciplinary records, without student or parental consent, to other agencies or institutions
3 in which the student seeks or intends to enroll or is already enrolled so long as the disclosure is for purposes
related to the student’s enrollment or transfer and upon receipt of a request for a student’s school or
education records.
Each school building within the School District has been inspected for the presence of asbestos-containing materials as required by the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). A copy of the Building Inspection and Management Plan for each building is available in the building’s main office. The plans may be inspected by members of the public and by School District employees during normal business hours. A copy of the plan will be made available upon request for a nominal fee.
The Board of Education has adopted a policy to provide students and staff with an environment that is free of pests, pesticides, and harmful chemicals to the extent required by law. The Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM) includes routine inspections or surveys of all school facilities and various strategies to prevent pests from becoming a problem. Pesticides are used only as a last resort and parents will be notified prior to a pesticide application in a school building or on school grounds.
The Board of Education recognizes that the misuse of drugs is a serious problem with legal, physical, and social implications for the entire school community. In accordance with federal and state law, the Board establishes a “Drug-Free School Zone” that extends 1000 feet from the boundary of any school property.
The Board prohibits the use, possession, concealment, delivery, or distribution of any drug or any drug-related paraphernalia, including alcohol and marijuana, at any time on School District property, within the Drug-Free Zone or at any School District-related event. Further, the Superintendent, or his/her designee, will take the necessary steps to ensure that an individual eighteen (18) years of age or older who knowingly delivers or distributes controlled substances so designated and prohibited by Michigan statute within the Drug-Free School Zone to another person is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
No person may be denied admission to any school in the School District, be denied the benefits of or be discriminated against in any curricular, extracurricular, or other School District program or activity based on the person’s gender, religion, race, color, national origin or ancestry, age, disability, marital status, or any other legally protected characteristic. The Board of Education has adopted a Discrimination and Harassment Policy which prohibits all forms of illegal harassment and discrimination within the School District. Any person who believes that he/she has been the victim of discrimination may seek resolution of his/her complaint through the procedures that have been established by the School District. A person wishing to pursue a complaint may also contact the School District’s Civil Rights Compliance Officer/Title IX Coordinator, Melissa Heuker (melissa.heuker@wlps.net 734.449.4461 x, or visit the Superintendent offices at 8845 Main Street, Whitmore Lake.
The School District, in accordance with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, will ensure that homeless children and youth in transition have access to a free and appropriate public education, including preschool, and be given a full opportunity to participate in state and District-wide assessments and accountability systems. A student may be considered eligible for services if he/she is presently living:
• In temporary shared housing, a shelter, or transitional living program;
• In a hotel/motel, campground, or similar situation due to lack of alternatives;
• At a bus station, park, car, or abandoned building; or
• In a temporary or transitional foster care placement.
The Board of Education has designated the McKinney-Vento Liaison Charlie Basham as the School District’s Coordinator under the Homeless Assistance Act. For questions or assistance, please contact Charlie Basham at 734.449.2051 x 4001 or visit the Main Street Campus at 8845 Main Street during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.).
Parents have the right to inspect, upon request, any instructional material used as part of the School District’s educational curriculum. Parents will be provided access to instructional materials within a reasonable period of time after the request is received by the building principal. The term “instructional material” means instructional content that is provided to a student, regardless of its format, including printed and representational materials, audio-visual materials, and materials in electronic or digital formats (such as materials accessible through the Internet). The term does not include academic tests or assessments.
The Board acknowledges the need for a reasonable degree of in-school storage of student possessions and will provide storage places, including desks and lockers, for that purpose. Where lockers are provided, students may lock them against incursion by other students, but lockers remain School District property. Students do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to School District personnel or their designees in lockers or other in-school storage places provided by the School District.
The Board authorizes the use of canines trained in detecting the presence of drugs or devices. Canines are used to determine the presence of drugs in locker areas and other places where such substances may be concealed. Canine detection is usually conducted in collaboration with law enforcement authorities or other certified organizations and is not used to search individual students without legally sufficient suspicion, or unless a warrant or parental permission has been obtained.
School authorities are authorized to take reasonable steps to safeguard the safety and well-being of the students by, among other things, implementing the School District’s Student Code of Conduct. Within the discharge of their responsibilities, School District personnel may search students, student property, and school property in the manner permitted by law.
The School District is required, by law, to locate, identify and evaluate all children with disabilities, including children with disabilities attending private schools located within the School District, as well as homeless children. The process of locating, identifying, and evaluating children with disabilities is known as child find.
Child find extends both to children who may be eligible for special education under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and those who may be eligible under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504).
If you believe your child may qualify under either the IDEA or Section 504, please contact the District’s Director of Student Services.
The Personal Curriculum (PC) is a Michigan Department of Education (MDE) endorsed process, permitting modification of specific credit requirements and/or content expectations based on the individual learning needs of a student. It is designed to serve students who want to accelerate or go beyond the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) requirements and students who need to individualize learning requirements to meet the MMC requirements. For more information from MDE about personal curriculums, please click here. To the extent required by law, the School District will grant all requests for personal curriculums.
Under the federal Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) and School District policy, no student will be required as a part of the school program or the School District’s curriculum, without prior parental consent, to submit to or participate in any survey, analysis or evaluation that reveals information concerning:
• Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or his/her parents;
• Mental or psychological problems of the student or his/her family;
• Sexual behavior or attitudes;
• Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior;
• Critical appraisals of other individuals with whom students have close family relationships;
• Legally recognized privileged and analogous relationships, such as those of lawyers, physicians,
and ministers;
• Religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or his/her parents; or
• Income (other than that required by law to determine eligibility for participation in a program or for
receiving financial assistance under such a program).
This requirement also applies to the collection, disclosure, or use of student information for marketing purposes (“marketing surveys”), and certain physical examinations and screenings. Parents have the right to inspect, upon request, a survey or evaluation created by a third party before the survey/evaluation is administered or distributed by the school to the student. The parent will be given access to the survey/evaluation within a reasonable period of time after the request is received by the building principal.
Parents who believe their rights have been violated may file a complaint with:
Student Privacy Policy Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20202
Whitmore Lake Elementary School within Whitmore Lake Public Schools receive Title I funding. Whitmore Lake Elementary School within Whitmore Lake Public Schools receives Title I, Part A – Improving Basic Instruction. funding. In accordance with law, the Board of Education has adopted a parent involvement policy (also known as a parental and family engagement policy). The School District is committed to establishing and maintaining positive relationships with families and the community. To that end, the School District will provide a variety of opportunities for families and other members of the community to become involved in children’s education.
Parents may request information regarding the professional qualifications of the student’s classroom teachers in writing submitted to [person, department]. The request may include:
• Whether the teacher has met Michigan qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which s/he provides instruction;
• Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which State qualification or licensing criteria have been waived;
• The teacher’s baccalaureate degree(s), major, any other graduate certification or degree(s) held, and the field of discipline of the certification or degree; and
• Whether the student is provided services by a paraprofessional and, if so, the paraprofessional’s
qualifications.
Parents of limited English proficient (LEP) students participating in a language instruction program will be notified, no later than 30 days after the beginning of the school year, of the following:
• Placement and reason why their child was identified as LEP;
• The student’s academic achievement level and level of English proficiency (including method of measurement);
• The methods used for language instruction;
• How the language program will meet the student’s instructional needs;
• How the program will help the child to learn English and meet the academic standards required for promotion or graduation;
• The exit requirements for the language program; and
• An explanation of parental rights, including the parent’s right to enroll or remove a child from the language instruction program.
WLPS recognizes the value of utilizing audio-visual and other types of electronic communication in providing an effective education for the students of Whitmore Lake. Unless otherwise notified, the district assumes the parent’s permission in the use of their child’s image, name, work product, school and grade for use in district-prepared printed materials, and in presentations that may be posted on the district website, social media, or cable channel. If you do not wish to grant the district this right, please email your building principal to notify her/him in writing.
The School District is committed to creating a school environment that enhances lifelong wellness practices. As required by law, the Board has adopted a Wellness Policy, which is periodically reviewed. The Board’s policies and/or administrative regulations can be found here.
In the absence of an emergency or an IEP or Section 504 plan, the School District does not provide physical examinations and screenings on school premises. In the event the School District does provide physical examinations and screenings, parents may opt-out their student from participation by sending the request, in writing, to their student’s building principal.
In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, and reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible State or local Agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600(voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information is available in languages other than English.
To file a complaint alleging discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by:
mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410
fax:
(202) 690-7442; or
email:program.intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.