No seat-time waiver? There’s still a lot of flexibility within the law.

According to the Michigan Department of Education, here’s a sampling of what schools can do without getting waivers and/or approvals from MDE. 

• Allow any high school student to take one or two online courses at any self-scheduled time and place.  (mentor teacher required)
• Allow any high school student to take all of his/her courses online at school with up to two of them from home.
• Allow any high school student to dual enroll for all but one high school course and the high school course may be an online course.
• Allow any high school student to take one or two independent study courses per semester.
• Allow any high school student to take up to half of his/her courses as work-based learning.
• Build project based learning courses for any high school content.
• Build online project based learning courses for any high school content.
• Offer college courses on the high school campus.
• Create and use performance assessments to award secondary credits.
• Offer flexible scheduling to high school students.
• Remember: documentation is required and a conversation with your pupil accounting auditors will be helpful.

Source: MDE, 4.1.09