Governor activity
Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill (HB) 583, which extends the current temporary flexibility for school districts regarding the educational requirements of substitute teachers until June 30, 2024, among the following additional provisions:

  • includes Senate Bill (SB) 306, which establishes a voluntary tutoring and remedial instruction program that public schools and chartered nonpublic schools could choose to participate in by notifying the coordinating educational service center;
  • makes technical corrections to the school-funding formula that was implemented in HB 110;
  • delays until the 2023-24 school year the screening of all students in grades K-three and serving students identified as having dyslexia or dyslexic tendencies but allows districts to start screening students earlier;
  • specifies that art, music and physical education teachers are not required to receive professional development in dyslexia intervention but authorizes school districts to require their employees to go through additional professional development if so desired;
  • clarifies that districts must only comply with provisions in the dyslexia guidebook that are statutorily required;
  • makes other changes that can be viewed in a previous update, accessible here.

Congress
President Joe Biden signed S. 2938, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The bill provides funding in mental health services, including funding for school-based mental health and support services. The bill also includes resources for programs to strengthen safety measures around primary and secondary schools. Click here to read a fact sheet on the bill.

Biden signed S. 2089, the Keep Kids Fed Act. The bill increases reimbursement rates and provides flexibility on compliance with meal patterns and nutrition standard requirements. The bill does not extend the provisions implemented during the pandemic that temporarily allowed all children to be eligible for free meals. However, the bill allows students eligible for reduced-price meals to receive free meals, and it increases the federal reimbursement for those meals.

FY22 and FY23 foundation payments
The Ohio Department of Education’s (ODE) Office of Budget and School Funding provided an important update regarding the closeout of fiscal year (FY)22 foundation payments and the plan for FY23 payments. Technical corrections to the school-funding formula were enacted in HB 583. Changes that impact FY22 payments will be reflected in the Final #1 reconciliation payment. The Final #1 payment is anticipated in August #2 for traditional districts and ESCs and September for JVSDs, community schools and STEM schools. The corrections that impact FY23 payments will be reflected in the July payments. Click here to view a calendar that outlines the data update schedule. Click here to read to the ODE update that details the school-funding changes.

Ohio Department of Education
ODE has the following proposed rules open for public comment:

  • OAC 3301-24-04 Teacher residency.
  • OAC 3301-24-18 Resident educator license.
  • OAC 3301-51-11 Preschool children eligible for special education.

Click here to view the rules open for public comment.

Posted by Nicole Piscitani on 7/1/2022