FOIA and Your Michigan School Board — Clutch Justice (Sep 2026)

The Article

FOIA and Your Michigan School Board — Clutch Justice (Rita Williams), September 23, 2026

A practical legal guide for parents who want to obtain records from their child’s charter school board using Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (MCL 15.231).

Why This Matters for This Case

This evidence library was built almost entirely from publicly accessible databases. But some records — board meeting minutes, internal financial documents, management agreements — require FOIA requests. Clutch’s guide gives parents the legal framework to obtain the same types of records that revealed MacDowell’s gift-card payments and operating deficit.

Cross-References

• Verify Everything — our step-by-step guide to independently checking claims
• Sources — the complete list of databases we used
• Institutional Capture — what FOIA’d records reveal about governance
• Contact — if you’re a parent affected by these schools