State Board of Education
The State Board of Education selected Stephen Dackin by a 14-4 vote to serve as Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The State Board approved the Dyslexia Guidebook by a 12-7 vote. Click here to read the approved Dyslexia Guidebook.

Senate Primary and Secondary Education Committee
The committee held a second hearing on House Bill (HB) 583, sponsored by Reps. Adam C. Bird (R-New Richmond) and Don Jones (R-Freeport), which 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. OSBA, the Ohio Association of School Business Officials (OASBO), Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA), Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators (OAESA), Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators (OASSA) and Alliance for High Quality Education (AHQE) provided proponent testimony. Click here to read the testimony. Also testifying as proponents of the bill were:

The committee held a third hearing on Senate Bill (SB) 306, which would establish a voluntary tutoring and remedial instruction program that public schools and chartered nonpublic schools could choose to participate in by notifying the state superintendent of public instruction. The bill would require the ESC of Central Ohio to employ tutors and coordinate placement of tutors in participating schools. The bill also would require 16 regional ESCs selected under the bill, in conjunction with the ESC of Central Ohio, to administer the training program for tutors in their regions.

House Primary and Secondary Education Committee
The committee held a third hearing on HB 497, which would modify the English language arts assessment to be administered once in the third grade and to eliminate retention under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.

The committee held a second hearing on HB 554, sponsored by Reps. Mary Lightbody (D-Westerville) and Bird, which would require the State Board to issue two-year temporary educator licenses to applicants with expired professional teacher's certificates and professional educator licenses as long as certain requirements are met. OSBA, OASBO, BASA, OAESA, OASSA and AHQE provided proponent testimony. Click here to read the testimony.

The committee accepted a substitute version of HB 151, which would revise the Ohio Resident Educator Program. The substitute version of HB 151 maintains the two-year Ohio Teacher Residency Program (OTR). The substitute version also would allow mentoring to occur online or in person, require school districts to provide each classroom teacher one professional development leave day per school year and would make changes to the performance-based assessment. Click here to read the comparative synopsis of the bill.

Finally, the committee held sponsor testimony on HB 606, sponsored by Bird and Catherine D. Ingram (D-Cincinnati), which would require public and chartered nonpublic schools to create an individualized seizure action plan for each enrolled student who has an active seizure disorder diagnosis. The bill also would require each school to have at least one employee trained in implementing seizure action plans and would require students to receive age-appropriate instruction on seizure disorders. The amendment specifies that if the school doesn’t have a school nurse, another school employee must create an individualized seizure action plan for each enrolled student who has an active seizure disorder diagnosis in collaboration with a student's parents or guardian.

House Higher Education and Career Readiness Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 577, sponsored by Reps. Mark Fraizer (R-Newark) and Adam Holmes (R-Nashport), which would establish the Ohio STEM Gateway Program under the College Credit Plus Program that requires a public high school and public college to jointly develop 30 credit hour pathways in STEM and health care fields. The bill also would allow schools to use existing pathways to meet the 30 credit hour requirement and would create the Ohio STEM Retention Program that provides an annual tuition waiver of $2,000 for up to three academic years to a student who completes the Ohio STEM Gateway Program and enrolls in a STEM or health care field at a public college. Finally, the bill would create the Ohio IT Promise Program that provides up to $4,000 in student loan forgiveness to an individual who meets certain requirements.

House Civil Justice Committee
The committee accepted a substitute version of HB 508, which would revise the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities to grant equal time and responsibility for a child. The substitute bill amends the parenting agreement to require that the agreement designates a parent to determine school district of attendance, the allocation of decision making as it pertains to education and school activities, and process of information sharing and right to access the child’s school records, among other changes. Click here to read the comparative synopsis of the substitute bill.

House Public Utilities Committee
The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 429, sponsored by Rep. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) and former Rep. Stephanie D. Howse (D-Cleveland), which would modify language regarding lighting fixtures to reduce energy waste as it applies to the installment payment contract for the purchase and installation of energy conservation measures.

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

  • OAC 3301-49-01 Rule relating to guarantee of competency of certain high school graduates.
  • OAC 3301-69-02 Excuses from school attendance.

Click here to view the rules open for public comment.

Posted by Nicole Piscitani on 5/13/2022