Ohio Redistricting Commission
The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved the state legislative district maps by a 4-3 vote. The approved maps did not receive bipartisan support, which makes them effective for only four years. Click here to view the approved maps. Several parties have filed court challenges to the maps and are also urging the Ohio Supreme Court to impose a plan to end the impasse.

State Board of Education
The State Board of Education has reviewed the 29 applications received for the state superintendent of public instruction. The full State Board will interview seven candidates during the executive session at the State Board meeting on April 11-12.

The seven candidates include:

  • Stephen Dackin, former state board vice president;
  • Larry Hook, superintendent, Springboro Community City;
  • Thomas L. Hosler II, superintendent, Perrysburg EV;
  • Finn Laursen, former executive director of Christian Educators Association International;
  • Dr. David Quattrochi, superintendent, Carrollton EV;
  • Kimberly Richey, president of RealignEd and former acting assistant secretary with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights;
  • Ronnie Tarchichi, superintendent, Pennsauken Public Schools, N.J.

General Assembly activity
The General Assembly sent House Bill (HB) 597 to Gov. Mike DeWine for his approval. The bill would provide capital reappropriations, including approximately $442.8 million for local school construction through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) that received prior conditional approval.

House activity
The House passed HB 583 by a 80-10 vote. The bill would extend the current temporary flexibility for school districts regarding the educational requirements of substitute teachers until June 30, 2024. The bill also would establish a study committee to examine the substitute teacher shortage and would appropriate $338 million in fiscal year 2022 to the federal school lunch program.

The House passed HB 482 by a 84-7 vote. The bill would create the temporary Tax Fraud Study Commission to report on state income tax fraud.

Senate activity
The Senate confirmed Brandon Kern, DeWine’s appointment to the State Board, by a 25-8 vote.

House Primary and Secondary Education Committee
The committee held a second hearing on HB 497, sponsored by Reps. Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) and Phillip M. Robinson Jr. (D-Solon), which would modify the English language arts assessment to be administered once in the third grade and eliminate retention under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. OSBA, the Ohio Association of School Business Officials, Buckeye Association of School Administrators and Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators provided proponent testimony. Click here to read the testimony.

The committee amended HB 492, sponsored by Reps. Mike Loychik (R-Bazetta) and Gail K. Pavliga (R-Atwater), which would require school athletic coaches to complete mental health training each time they apply for or renew a pupil-activity program permit and provide evidence of completed training to the State Board. The amendment changes cardiac arrest and concussion training to occur within the duration of the previous permit and allows the required mental health training to be completed as a part of another training course.

Finally, the committee held a second hearing on HB 147, sponsored by Reps. Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus) and Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville), which would require the Ohio Department of Education to develop a process for requesting an investigation of a school's compliance with its policy prohibiting harassment, intimidation or bullying.

Senate Primary and Secondary Education Committee
The committee accepted a substitute version of Senate Bill (SB) 240, which would establish a process that would allow the merger of one or more community schools and nonprofit operators into a community school network. The substitute version aligns the definition of a quality school to the definition used in a provision of HB 110, the budget bill. The substitute version also would allow two or more schools, instead of four or more under current law, to form a network and specify that new schools joining a network must go through the chartering process and have a sponsor. Lastly, the substitute version clarifies that sponsor approval is needed to join a network and would allow a student matriculating from one school in a network to another to have priority if it is oversubscribed.

The committee accepted a substitute version of SB 306, sponsored by Sen. Andrew O. Brenner (R-Powell), which would establish a voluntary tutoring and remedial instruction program that public schools and chartered nonpublic schools may participate in and that is administered by certain educational service centers. The substitute version requires the ESC of Central Ohio to be the coordinating service center, and it would be responsible for the employment of tutors, among other changes. A comparative analysis of the substitute bill is forthcoming.

Senate Veterans and Public Safety Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 99, sponsored by Rep. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Township), which would expressly state that the intent of the bill is to overrule the decision of the Ohio Supreme Court in Gabbard v. Madison Local School Dist. Bd. Of Edn. The bill also would require a school district to provide public notification if the school district authorized one or more persons to go armed within a school. Additionally, the bill would establish requirements for a person authorized to go armed within a school safety zone and establish training requirements.

House Ways and Means Committee
The committee held a second hearing on HB 501, sponsored by Hall, which would authorize school districts to levy property taxes for school resource officer services, among other changes.

The committee held sponsor testimony on SB 112, sponsored by Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls), which would require abandoned land to be forfeited to the state, instead of a school district, as under current law if unsold after the first foreclosure sale, and eliminate the requirement to notify a school district upon receiving certification that a property has been offered for sale and is unsold.

Senate Judiciary Committee
The committee held a third hearing on SB 186, which would permit the General Assembly to adopt a concurrent resolution that would require the attorney general to challenge an executive order from the president or a federal agency rule.

House Civil Justice Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on, HB 533, sponsored by Reps. Jeffrey A. Crossman (D-Parma) and Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo), which would increase penalties regarding filing false or fraudulent claims with the state and defrauding the state of money or property.

Posted by Nicole Piscitani on 4/1/2022