The state of Michigan and several school districts have “achieved a broad framework” to settle a lawsuit in which the districts say the state acted unlawfully by threatening to close low-performing schools in their districts.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens on Tuesday morning said both sides have “engaged in intense settlement conversations seeking to serve the best interest of the state of Michigan and its children.”

Stephens said the case – brought by school districts in Detroit, Kalamazoo, Saginaw and Eastpointe – will be subject to dismissal or entry of an opinion on or before Sept. 5.

The lawsuit was filed this winter, after the state School Reform Office put 38 schools – 25 of which were in Detroit – at risk of closure because of poor academic performance. Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration eventually backed off the effort, choosing instead to create partnership agreements aimed at improving student academic performance at the schools.

Attorneys representing Kalamazoo and Saginaw schools declined to share details of the settlement agreement. The settlement must be approved by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and the boards or superintendents of the school districts, Stephens said.

The settlement framework comes after Snyder signed an executive order moving the state School Reform Office back to the Michigan Department of Education.

In 2015, citing disappointment over its performance, he moved the office to the Department of Technology, Management and Budget, which he oversees. MDE, on the other hand, is led by the state superintendent, who is hired by the publicly-elected State Board of Education.

The move is significant to the case because the districts – as part of the lawsuit – argued Snyder’s 2015 executive order moving the office to DTMB was unconstitutional.

The 38 schools were placed at-risk of closure by the reform office in January, when it was housed at DTMB. The office, created in 2010, had not pushed for closures while it was at MDE.

Stephens said Snyder’s executive order returning the reform office to MDE will take effect on midnight Aug. 29 unless the state Legislature acts to do otherwise.