Senate Activity
The Senate confirmed Steve Dackin as the inaugural director of the Department of Education and Workforce by a vote of 25-6.
The Senate also passed an amended version of House Bill (HB) 187, sponsored by Reps. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township) and Adam Bird (R-New Richmond), by a 29-2 vote. The bill will return to the House for a concurrence vote which could occur as soon as Dec. 13. Prior to passage, the Senate Ways and Means Committee accepted a substitute bill, which made significant changes. A summary of the changes is available here. The bill contains an emergency clause, allowing it to go into immediate effect once signed by the governor. The bill also contains an appropriation, this provides Gov. Mike DeWine the ability to exercise line-item veto authority on any provision in the bill.
House Primary and Secondary Education Committee
The committee passed HB 70, sponsored by Reps. Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) and Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester), which would require schools to adopt a policy regarding the administration of over-the-counter drugs.
The committee amended HB 312, sponsored by Reps. Andrea White (R-Kettering) and Tom Young (R-Washington Township), which would establish the Regional Partnerships Program. The program would require the Department of Education and Workforce and the Department of Higher Education to create, administer and oversee the prenatal-to-five early childhood to post-secondary regional partnerships program; and to make an appropriation. The amendment also requires educational service centers to take part in the bill’s Partnership Program and includes the Educational Regional Service System in the integration process in the same manner as business advisory councils and industry sector partnerships.
Senate Education Committee
The committee introduced a substitute version of HB 8, sponsored by Reps. D. J. Swearingen (R-Huron) and Sara P. Carruthers (R-Hamilton). The bill would enact the Parents Bill of Rights, requiring public schools to adopt a policy on parental notification regarding student health and well-being and instructional materials with sexuality content. The substitute version does the following:
- Includes definitions for the terms “age appropriate” and “developmentally appropriate” that are modeled on existing federal law.
- Exempts state-required health, vision and hearing screenings from the provisions of the bill.
- Clarifies that the provisions apply to services offered or facilitated by a school.
The committee held a fourth hearing and amended Senate Bill (SB) 162, sponsored by Sen. Andrew O. Brenner (R-Delaware), which would require public schools to provide certain academic intervention services to each student who demonstrates a limited level in math and/or English language arts. The amendment does the following:
- clarifies that high school students scoring limited on state tests are not required to retake the tests but must get interventions aligned to their chosen graduation pathway;
- requires that beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year, students receiving intervention in math based on the third-grade math test result must be given a mathematics improvement and monitoring plan like the reading and monitoring plan currently in law; and
- requires schools in which most students score below proficient on math tests to develop an improvement plan to submit to the Department of Education and Workforce (DEW). DEW will establish guidelines for the content of such plans.
The committee held a fourth hearing and introduced a substitute version of SB 168, sponsored by Sen. Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester). The substitute version does the following:
- Corrects an outdated reference to the Department of Education.
- Removes an option for school districts to request students who were previously screened for dyslexia to be exempt from a rescreening in the 2023-24 school year.
- Excises a provision allowing pupil professional services licenses to be awarded to individuals with bachelor's degrees.
- Codifies a temporary nonrenewable license allowing districts to employ educators with out-of-state credentials for up to a year.
- Creates an option for charter and district-led e-schools to administer state assessments remotely.
- Removes a requirement that charter schools conduct a monthly review of a student's district of residence, while keeping in place an annual review requirement.
- Clarifies when non-licensed individuals working in a school must be entered into the RAPback system.
Senate Ways and Means Committee
The committee held a third hearing on HB 187, sponsored by Reps. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township) and Adam Bird (R-New Richmond), which would modify the procedures used by the tax commissioner to conduct property tax sales-assessment ratio studies. OSBA, the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) and the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) submitted joint interested party testimony that can be found here.
House Government Oversight Committee
The committee amended SB 91, sponsored by Sen. Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster), which would make changes to laws regarding fraud, waste and abuse of public funds. The amendment prohibits political subdivisions from spending funds unless the expenditure was approved by the local government's legislative body.
House Ways and Means Committee
The committee held a third hearing on HB 254, sponsored by Reps. Adam Holmes (R-Nashport) and Tracy Richardson (R-Marysville), which would expand the enhanced homestead exemption to 100% of a home’s true value from the current cap of $50,000; allow honorably discharged veterans who have a 100% disability rating to be eligible for the exemption; allow veterans with a disability rating of 70% or more to be eligible to exempt $10,000 of their home’s true value; and allow veterans with a disability rating of 50% to 70% to qualify for a $5,000 exemption.
The committee also held a second hearing on HB 274, sponsored by Reps. Adam Matthews (R-Lebanon) and Richard Dell’Aquila (D-Seven Hills), which would authorize an enhanced property tax homestead exemption of $50,000 for long-term homeowners who meet certain eligibility requirements. OSBA, the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) and the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO) submitted joint proponent testimony that can be found here.
Senate Government Oversight Committee
The committee amended HB 68, sponsored by Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), which would prohibit certain procedures to alter a minor child’s sex; and would designate this act as the Ohio Saving Adolescents from Experimentation Act. The bill also includes HB 6, which would enact the Save Women's Sports Act to require schools, state institutions of higher education, and private colleges to designate separate single-sex teams and sports for each sex. The amendment clarifies that a court may not deny or limit a parent's rights or parenting time based on certain parental decisions.
Senate Health Committee
The committee held a second hearing on HB 47, sponsored by Reps. Richard D. Brown (D-Canal Winchester) and Bird, which would require the placement of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in each public and chartered nonpublic school and each public recreational facility. The bill would also require the Ohio Department of Health to develop a model emergency action plan for the use of AEDs.
Senate Financial Institutions and Technology Committee
The committee heard sponsor testimony on HB 74, sponsored by Reps. Hall and Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville). The bill would establish a plan to migrate the state’s information technology systems to the state’s computer center and cloud environment and establish a cybersecurity and fraud advisory board.
House Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committee
The committee heard sponsor testimony on SB 113, sponsored by Sen. Frank Hoagland (R-Mingo Junction), which prohibits a person who fails to comply with the Military Selective Service System from holding a public office or employment with the state.
House Higher Education Committee
The committee accepted written testimony only for the fourth hearing on HB 183, sponsored by Reps. Bird and Beth Lear (R-Galena), regarding single-sex bathroom access in primary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education.
New Bills Introduced
- HB 348, sponsored by Reps. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) and Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati), establishes pilot programs to increase student attendance and graduation rates through financial awards and incentives, and to make an appropriation.
- HB 356, sponsored by Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton), regards cardiac monitoring for youth. The bill also names the act the Healthy Cardiac Monitoring Act.
Federal update
Please click here to read the weekly Federal Advocacy Education Report which includes education related information.