Birmingham Public Schools, 2025-2026
The MiPHY Student Health Survey
What this survey is, why students are asked these questions, what Birmingham students answered, what money is tied to it, and what it took to see the results.
The basics
What the survey is
MiPHY stands for the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth. It is an online student health survey run by the Michigan Department of Education with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. It is given to students in grades 7, 9, and 11, every other school year.
Districts choose whether to take part. Birmingham Public Schools took part in 2025-2026. The state is not offering the survey in 2026-2027, so the next round is 2027-2028.
What it covers
- Feeling safe at school
- Bullying
- Violence
- Sadness and suicide
- Alcohol
- Tobacco and vaping
- Other drugs
- Sexual behavior
- Nutrition
- Physical activity
- Adults to talk to
- Connection to school
- Family
- Neighborhood
The question parents ask first
Why would a school ask children these questions?
It is a fair question, and the state answers it in its own fact sheet. The reasoning is that a student dealing with something like an abusive relationship or suicidal thoughts will have a hard time learning, and a school cannot plan for needs it has not measured. The questions come from two national surveys, the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Communities That Care survey.
The state also says published research does not show that asking about these behaviors makes students more likely to try them.
Voluntary
Students can opt themselves out or skip any question. Their grade is not affected.
Parents first
Districts must notify parents ahead of time. Parents can review the survey and opt their child out.
Anonymous
No names. Results are reported by grade, and any result with fewer than 10 students is hidden.
What students said
Every question, every answer
All 246 questions from the district's two reports, worded exactly as the state words them. 7th, 9th, and 11th grade are shown side by side.
Some questions cover suicide and self-harm. If you or your child needs to talk to someone now, call or text 988.
What students get out of it
What the survey is supposed to provide
Nothing goes back to an individual student. The value is supposed to come from what adults do with the results. According to the state, districts use MiPHY to decide which prevention and support programs are needed, to shape health education, to feed the district's continuous improvement plan, and to back up grant applications.
That only works if the results are looked at, shared, and acted on. Which is why I asked not only for the results, but for any summaries, presentations, and decisions that came out of them.
Follow the money
How much money comes with it?
From what PAACT has been able to confirm so far:
Does the district pay to give the survey?
No
The state offers it to districts at no charge.
Is the district paid for taking part?
None found
PAACT has found no payment to districts for participating.
Is money connected to it at all?
Indirectly
The state says this kind of data is needed to apply for grants and to plan programs. State school mental health and safety dollars are meant to follow student need, and MiPHY is one way a district shows that need.
How much has BPS received using MiPHY data?
Unknown
This is a question for the district.
$110
What it cost a parent to see the results
Paid to the district in FOIA fees.
The process
What it took to get the results
State guidance says MiPHY results belong to the local district, and the superintendent decides who gets to see them. The state cannot release them without the district's approval. So the only way for a parent to see Birmingham's results was to ask Birmingham.
- May 18Request filedFOIA request for the survey, the results, any summaries, and related communications.
- May 22ExtensionDistrict takes the 10 business days the law allows. New deadline: June 10.
- June 2Blank survey and a billDistrict sends the blank questions and a $110 fee estimate.
- Early JulyFee paidThe $110 is paid in full.
- July 6Reports datedThe date printed on every page of the results.
- AugustAppealNothing received. Appeal filed with the superintendent.
- OctoberResults arriveDistrict-level results for 2025-2026 arrive.
More than four months from request to results
Where it stands
What was asked for and what has arrived
- Survey questions, 2025-2026Received
- District-level results, 2025-2026, grades 7, 9, 11Received
- Building-level resultsNot yet received
- Summaries, presentations, or analyses prepared for administration or the BoardNot yet received
- Communications about the results (the part the fee covered)Not yet received
The state's fact sheet describes MiPHY as producing both building and district reports. I will update this page as the rest comes in.
Going forward
This should not take a FOIA anymore
The state school aid law that took effect for the 2025-2026 school year (Section 164k) says districts must make student survey questions and results available to the public, post them on the district website, and notify parents of the survey. That covers surveys from the district, the county, the state, or the federal government.
What BPS has posted
The district's Health & Wellness page has the 2025-2026 middle school and high school survey questions, the family letter, and the opt-out form. That is the notice and the questions, and the district deserves credit for having them up.
Why PAACT cares
Our kids answered. The adults should get to see what they said.
More than 1,100 Birmingham students took time out of class to tell the adults in their lives how they are doing. This survey is one of the few places where students speak for themselves. PAACT wants the district, the Board, parents, and teachers looking at the same information, so the conversation can be about what to do next.
Questions or something to add? paact.birmingham@gmail.com