Michigan IEP Suspension Rules and Discipline Procedures Explained

Your child has an IEP and the school wants to suspend them — again. Maybe it's the third time this month, or maybe it's a ten-day removal. If you don't know your rights under Michigan law, you may be watching an illegal pushout happen in real time. Here's the full picture on what schools can and cannot do when disciplining students with IEPs in Michigan.

The 10-Day Rule: What It Is and Why It Matters

IDEA and MARSE establish the foundational discipline protection for students with IEPs: no suspension of more than 10 cumulative school days in a year can be imposed without specific procedural protections kicking in.

A single suspension of 10 school days or fewer is generally permissible without triggering the full discipline process — the school can apply the same procedures it uses for nondisabled students. However, once suspensions begin to accumulate, the law becomes significantly more protective.

The pattern of exclusion rule is what parents need to understand. A series of short-term removals can constitute a "change in placement" — and trigger the same protections as a long-term suspension — if the pattern amounts to more than 10 school days in a year and the behaviors are substantially similar. Courts and the MDE look at:

• The total number of days removed so far
• The proximity of the suspensions to each other
• The similarity of the behaviors triggering each removal

A school that suspends a student with autism for 3 days in September, 4 days in October, 3 days in November, and 3 days in December has hit a pattern of exclusion even though no single suspension exceeded 10 days. At that point, the Manifestation Determination Review must happen before any further removal.

Services During Suspension

Here's something many Michigan parents don't know: once a student with an IEP has been removed for more than 10 school days in a year, the district must continue to provide educational services during any subsequent removal — even in-school suspension or out-of-school suspension. The school cannot simply send the student home and treat it as a vacation.

The services must be sufficient to allow the student to continue to participate in the general education curriculum, make progress toward IEP goals, and receive the services identified in their IEP. This doesn't mean the full IEP program must be replicated in a different setting the same day — but it does mean the student cannot be deprived of FAPE just because they're being disciplined.

During the first 10 cumulative school days of removal, the district has no obligation to provide services (same as for nondisabled students). After that threshold, services must follow.

The Manifestation Determination Review (MDR)

When a district seeks to suspend an IEP student for more than 10 school days (consecutively or through accumulated pattern), it must conduct a Manifestation Determination Review within 10 school days of the decision to remove.

The MDR is a meeting of the IEP team — including the parents — where two questions are answered:

1. Was the conduct in question caused by, or did it have a direct and substantial relationship to, the student's disability?
2. Was the conduct a direct result of the district's failure to implement the IEP?

If the answer to either question is yes, the behavior is a "manifestation" of the disability. The consequence: the student must be returned to the previous placement (unless the parent and district agree to an alternative), and the district must conduct a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) if one hasn't already been done, then develop or revise a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP).

If the answer to both questions is no, the behavior is not a manifestation, and the student can be disciplined under the same procedures used for nondisabled students. Even then, the student continues to receive FAPE during the removal.

Parents should not sign off on an MDR determination without reviewing all the data. If the IEP includes a BIP and the school hasn't been implementing it consistently, the answer to question 2 is almost certainly yes. Ask for documentation of how and when the BIP was being implemented in the weeks leading up to the incident.

The Interim Alternative Educational Setting (IAES)

Even when a behavior is found to be a manifestation, the district retains authority to move the student to an Interim Alternative Educational Setting (IAES) for up to 45 school days — without parental consent — if the infraction involved:

• Possession of a weapon at school or a school function
• Possession, use, or sale of illegal drugs at school or a school function
• Infliction of serious bodily injury upon another person at school

Outside of these three specific situations, the district generally cannot unilaterally place a student in an IAES over parent objection when the behavior is a manifestation. The student returns to their current placement. If the district believes that placement is truly dangerous, they must go to an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) — they cannot simply override the parent.

The IAES, regardless of how the student ended up there, must provide educational services and allow the student to continue to work toward their IEP goals.

The Stay-Put Right During Disputes

If you disagree with the MDR outcome or the proposed placement change, file for due process immediately. Filing a due process complaint triggers the stay-put provision: the student must remain in the current placement while the hearing is pending. This is one of the most powerful procedural protections in special education law.

However, there's a critical timing rule specific to expulsion cases: if the school board is scheduled to vote on an expulsion, you must file the due process complaint before the board vote. If you wait until after the expulsion is finalized, the stay-put protection is gone.

If you're facing an MDR where you believe the determination is wrong, get your written disagreement on the table the same day. Then file for due process or a State Complaint with the MDE OSE immediately — don't wait.

The Michigan IEP & 504 Blueprint includes templates for responding to suspension notices, requesting MDR meetings, and documenting BIP implementation failures — tools specifically designed for the moments when schools are trying to push a student out.

Common Violations Michigan Parents Encounter

"We're only suspending for 3 days, so we don't need a meeting." True in isolation — but if this is the fifth 3-day suspension this year, a pattern of exclusion has been established. Keep a running count.

"Your child doesn't have a BIP, so we can just use regular discipline." If your child has behaviors that interfere with their learning or the learning of others, the IEP team is required to consider positive behavioral interventions and supports as part of the IEP. The absence of a BIP when one is needed is itself a procedural violation.

"We completed the MDR and the behavior wasn't a manifestation — your child is expelled." Check whether the IEP was being implemented. If teachers weren't delivering accommodations, reinforcing the BIP, or providing the supports listed in the IEP, question 2 of the MDR should have been answered yes.

"We can keep suspending in 9-day increments." This is a known workaround some districts attempt. Document each suspension with dates and count the total school days. Once the pattern is established, challenge every subsequent removal.

Michigan parents of students with disabilities facing suspensions should know that state complaint filings related to discipline have been increasing — schools are under scrutiny, and the MDE takes these violations seriously. Your job is to document the pattern and invoke your procedural rights before the school has finalized the discipline record.

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