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The following opinion is presented on-line for informational use only and does not replace the official version. (Mich Dept of Attorney General Web Site - www.ag.state.mi.us) STATE OF MICHIGAN FRANK J. KELLEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL Opinion No. 6596 August 9, 1989 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS: Authority to release student from school to seek non-emergency medical treatment A school district may not release an unemancipated minor student from school for the specific purpose of seeking non-emergency medical attention without the consent of the student's parent or guardian. Honorable Glenn Oxender State Representative The Capitol Lansing, Michigan 48909 You have requested my opinion on a question which may be stated as follows: May school districts release minor students during school hours, without parental consent, to go to off-campus health clinics where, among other things, birth control pills or devices are prescribed or distributed? The Legislature has given boards of education of school districts authority to regulate the conduct of students during school hours both on campus and while en route to and from campus: "The board of a school district shall make reasonable regulations relative to anything necessary for the proper establishment, maintenance, management, and carrying on of the public schools of the district, including regulations relative to the conduct of pupils concerning their safety while in attendance at school or enroute to and from school." MCL 380.1300; MSA 15.41300. (Emphasis supplied.) Pursuant to this authority, boards of education may develop reasonable written policies and regulations governing the circumstances under which students are permitted to leave the school grounds during the school day. I am informed that there is a wide degree of variation in the kinds of policies which local school districts have adopted in this regard. The establishment of such policies lies within the sound discretion of the local school authorities. 2 OAG, 1960, No 3493, p 51 (March 17, 1960). Your question, however, is whether the school may release a student for the specific purpose of permitting the student to visit an off-campus medical facility without parental consent. A review of the School Code of 1976 reveals no such authority. The Legislature, in the School Code of 1976, Sec. 1178; MCL 380.1178; MSA 15.41178, has provided limited immunity for school employees who administer medication to a pupil pursuant to written permission of the pupil's parents or guardian and in compliance with the instructions of a physician. No provision of the Code, however, permits a school official to authorize a student to leave the school specifically to obtain non-emergency medical treatment without the permission of the student's parent or guardian. Indeed, such authorization would be pointless since, in the absence of parental consent or a medical emergency, physicians may not treat unemancipated minor patients unless the Legislature expressly authorizes such treatment. Zoski v. Gaines, 271 Mich 1, 9-10; 260 NW 99 (1935), MCL 333.5257; MSA 14.15(5257). See also Franklin v. Peabody, 249 Mich 363, 366-367; 228 NW 681 (1930), Banks v. Wittenberg, 82 MichApp 274, 279-280; 266 NW2d 788, lv den 403 Mich 809 (1978). It is my opinion, therefore, that a school district may not release an unemancipated minor student from school for the specific purpose of seeking non-emergency medical attention without the consent of the student's parent or guardian. Frank J. Kelley Attorney General
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