⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Sixth Circuit hears a family's challenge to disputed school attendance and grading records. During online schooling, a student was marked absent and received failing grades. She and her mother say she attended and submitted work, but the electronic system did not reliably record it. The district disputes that account and says staff repeatedly contacted the family and offered ways to document attendance and complete assignments. The family sued, claiming a constitutional right to challenge the errors. The district court entered summary judgment for the school defendants, deciding the case without trial. It found no deprivation of a protected educational interest. The appeal centers on procedural due process: fair procedures when government deprives someone of a protected liberty or property interest. A property interest means a legitimate entitlement, not merely something a person wants. The family's lawyer will argue that state rules and school policies protect accurate records and require a meaningful opportunity to correct them. The district will argue that those rules create no such constitutional entitlement and that its communications and offered alternatives were sufficient. You will also hear FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which provides procedures for seeking corrections to certain education records. The dispute is whether this record-accuracy claim supports constitutional protection, not simply whether a student dislikes a grade.

Xie and S.G. v. Jackson Local School District Board of Education (No. 26-3085) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, argued October 22, 2026.