The Legal Ledger

In a unanimous decision issued yesterday, the Supreme Court of Ohio upheld the constitutionality of a school district’s searches of a student’s bags. In State v. Polk, the court concluded that schools have a compelling interest in protecting students from harm and it is reasonable for school…

The Ohio Ethics law requires certain elected officials, candidates for elected offices, public employees and appointees to public positions to annually file a financial disclosure statement with the Ohio Ethics Commission.

These disclosure statements require a filer to disclose information regarding their personal financial interests and fiduciary relationships for the preceding calendar year. According to the…

Teacher licensure is a topic that often causes confusion. As a result, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has made an effort to create and share resources to help address that confusion. Just this week, Early Learning hosted a webinar providing guidance on Ohio’s Licensure for Teachers.

Portions of the webinar focus on Early Learning, but it also serves as a good resource for all administrators and educators as it includes a discussion of the following topics: 1…

In the April OSBA Journal, the ‘According to Law’ article discussed nepotism restrictions. The article’s focus was on Ohio Revised Code (RC) Section 2921.42(A)(1), which prohibits any public official from authorizing the employment of a family member or using his or her position to secure authorization of a family member’s employment. However, we’ve received some questions since then on superintendents making employment recommendations for family members.

While the Journal article was directed at Board members, employees…

June 1 is the deadline for providing written notice to a teacher that the board does not intend to renew his or her contract.  But did you realize that May 1 is another critical deadline if a board is considering non-renewal for a teacher on a limited or extended limited contract?

Districts considering non-renewal of any teacher must follow all of the statutorily required steps by the applicable deadlines.  If the district fails to meet the requirements in the law, the teacher will be deemed…

Did you know that OSBA’s division of legal services provides fact sheets on many topics relevant to public school districts in Ohio? These quick references provide answers to some of the more frequently asked questions the division receives. In the past year, the division has updated several fact sheets and other publications. Are you using the most recent version? Here are the fact sheets that have been updated in the past year:

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Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court answered a question that it had deferred 35 years ago in its seminal opinion on education for children with disabilities—Board of Edn. of Hendrick Hudson Central School Dist. v. Rowley.

In Rowley, the court concluded that the guarantee of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in what is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is met if a child’s individualized education program (IEP) sets out a program that is “reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.” However…

Ohio’s Open Meetings Act was enacted in 1975 as Ohio Revised Code Section (RC) 121.22. It, together with the Public Records Act (RC 149.43), is commonly referred to as “the Sunshine law.”

The Open Meetings Act’s basic purpose is to require public bodies, including boards of education to:

1. Hold public meetings, except where private meetings are specifically authorized by law;
2. Provide notices of when those meetings will occur…

On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a decision in State ex rel. Delaware Joint Vocational School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Testa, Slip Opinion No. 2017-Ohio-796. The case, discussed in a Jan. 27 Legal Ledger post, involves a Renewal Levy passed in November 2015 by the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC). Ninety-nine percent of DACC’s territory is in Delaware County, while less than 1% falls in Franklin, Marion, Morrow…

On February 22, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice withdrew their previous joint guidance that provided information for schools on the departments’ interpretation of the rights of and protections for transgender students under Title IX. Noting that the “interpretation has given rise to significant litigation regarding school restrooms and locker rooms,” the Departments said “there must be due regard…