Abandoned children living in squalor in a Pontiac home for years may have been discovered sooner but for a loophole in Michigan law that allows some children to fall off schools' radars when transferring, said proponents of legislation to tighten the process for sharing student records.

In February, three children were found by Oakland County sheriff's deputies in the Pontiac home surrounded by garbage and feces, using pizza boxes as mattresses, according to law enforcement. Their mother faces child abuse and welfare fraud charges. She has pleaded not guilty, according to Oakland County Circuit Court records. She is awaiting a pretrial hearing, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said during a legislative hearing Aug. 13.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a Febru

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