Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 380.1171 (2026)

Suicide prevention and awareness; instruction and professional development; availability of model programs and materials to school districts and public school academies; notice to parents; cause of action or legal duty not created; section known as "Chase Edwards law."

✓ current as of July 2026

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THE REVISED SCHOOL CODE

Act 451 of 1976

380.1171 Suicide prevention and awareness; instruction and professional development; availability of model programs and materials to school districts and public school academies; notice to parents; cause of action or legal duty not created; section known as "Chase Edwards law."

Sec. 1171.

(1) The board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy is encouraged to provide age-appropriate instruction for pupils and professional development for school personnel concerning the warning signs and risk factors for suicide and depression and the protective factors that help prevent suicide. The instruction and professional development shall be designed to achieve the following goals:

(a) To prevent both fatal and nonfatal suicide behaviors among youth.

(b) To increase pupil awareness of the warning signs and risk factors for suicide and depression.

(2) The board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy is encouraged to work with school personnel and local or state organizations and resources specializing in suicide prevention and awareness.

(3) The department shall develop or select model programs and materials on suicide prevention and awareness that are appropriate for the purposes of this section, such as the Michigan model for comprehensive school health education, and shall make those model programs and materials available to school districts and public school academies.

(4) If a school district or public school academy provides instruction described in subsection (1), the board of the school district or board of directors of the public school academy shall notify the parents of all pupils of each school in which the instruction is provided about the instruction using the communication method the school district or public school academy normally uses for regular communications with parents.

(5) Failure of a school district or public school academy to comply with subsection (4) does not create a cause of action or constitute a breach of any legal duty in a civil action.

(6) This section shall be known as the "Chase Edwards law".

History: Add. 2006, Act 324, Imd. Eff. July 20, 2006

Compiler's Notes:

Former MCL 380.1171, which pertained to instruction on animals and birds, was repealed by Act 289 of 1995, Eff. July 1, 1996.

PopularName Notes:

Act 451

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1984–1993 · leading case: Clonlara, Inc v. State Bd. of Educ., 501 N.W.2d 88 (Mich. 1993).

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Clonlara, Inc v. State Bd. of Educ., 501 N.W.2d 88 (Mich. 1993). · cites it 2× “[48] MCL 380.1171; MSA 15.41171 provides that public schools should provide instruction on the "humane treatment and protection of animals and birds" and their role in the economy of nature; MCL 380.”

Sheridan Road Baptist Church v. Dep't of Educ., 396 N.W.2d 373 (Mich. 1986). · cites it 2× “41170); humane treatment of animals (MCL 380.1171; MSA 15.41171); instruction in the pluralistic, multiracial, and multiethnic nature of society (MCL 380.”

Davis v. Homestead Farms, Inc, 359 N.W.2d 1 (Mich. Ct. App. 1984). “41171: "Time shall be devoted in the public schools within this state to teaching the pupils kindness and justice to, and humane treatment and protection of, animals and *155 birds, and the important part they fulfill in the economy of nature.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.