LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michigan schools now have an answer to the question they were suing over: the state can, in fact, make them choose.

A Court of Claims judge has upheld the controversial budget language tying school safety grants to a waiver of attorney-client privilege, clearing the way for the state to enforce the condition attached to roughly $320 million in funding.

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Judge Sima Patel ruled Dec. 17 that the Legislature acted within its authority when it required districts to surrender privilege in the event of a mass-casualty incident as a condition of receiving the money. While Patel acknowledged the provision is “coercive,” she concluded it does not illegally force schools to give up a “constitutional right.” 

The decision lands weeks after more than 30 districts sued the state, arguing the requirement was vague, overly broad, and amounted to financial arm-twisting. Superintendents warned the undefined term “mass-casualty event” left districts exposed to open-ended legal risk.

The clause was added after the Oxford High School shooting, where investigators said attorney-client privilege slowed the state’s review. Lawmakers backing the language framed it as a transparency fix; school leaders called it a precedent-setting power grab.

Districts now face a firm  Dec. 30 deadline to decide whether to accept the funds as the case heads to the Court of Appeals.