House activity

The House passed House Bill (HB) 123, sponsored by Reps. Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) and Glenn Holmes (D-Girard). The bill requires public schools to implement certain programs on and provide instruction in suicide awareness and prevention and violence prevention. The bill now goes to the Senate.

House Primary and Secondary Education Committee

The committee conducted sponsor testimony on:

• HB 336, sponsored by Reps. Lisa Sobecki (D-Toledo) and Phillip M. Robinson, Jr. (D-Solon), which re-establishes the Joint Education Oversight Committee.

• HB 310, sponsored by Rep. Dave Greenspan (R-Westlake), which enacts the Ohio Anti-Bullying and Hazing Act with regard to school discipline and bullying and hazing policies at public schools and colleges. The committee also accepted a substitute version of the bill. A copy of the changes can be accessed here.

Senate Transportation, Commerce and Workforce Committee

The committee conducted a second hearing on Senate Bill (SB) 134, sponsored by Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green), which increases the penalties for the offense of improperly passing a stopped school bus, allows images captured by school bus cameras to be used as corroborating evidence for such an offense and appropriates $500,000 for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 for purchasing and installing cameras on school buses.

OSBA, the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) and the Ohio Association of School Business Officials testified in support of the bill, which can be read here.

School district representatives testifying in support of SB 134 included:

• Gregory Kelley, transportation supervisor, Pickerington Local (Fairfield);

• Lori Carter-Evans, transportation manager, Olentangy Local (Delaware);

• Dan Grothause, transportation supervisor, St. Marys City.

Senate Education Committee

The committee conducted a second hearing on SB 121, sponsored by Sens. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) and Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard). The bill requires the State Board of Education to develop K-12 health education standards and revises the law regarding venereal disease education standards and curriculum. OSBA, BASA, the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators and the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators testified in support of the bill. Click here to read that testimony.

The committee also conducted sponsor testimony on:

• SB 81, sponsored by Sen. Tina Maharath (D-Columbus), which prohibits the use of seclusion in public schools.

• SB 84, also sponsored by Maharath, which allows an individual enrolling a student to voluntarily state if the student’s parent is a member of the U.S. armed forces.

• SB 157, sponsored by Sen. Sandra R. Williams (D-Cleveland), which reduces, from two hours to one hour, the deadline by which public schools must notify the parent of a student who fails to arrive at school and is not excused from attendance.

• SB 168, sponsored by Maharath and Sen. Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond Heights), which establishes the Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights Act and requires public schools to provide certain services to students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

House Health Committee

The committee conducted sponsor testimony on:

• HB 243, sponsored by Reps. Casey Weinstein (D-Hudson) and C. Alison Russo (D-Upper Arlington), which requires that all health benefit plans, including those provided by school districts, provide coverage for the full cost of up to $2,500 per hearing aid for each hearing-impaired ear every 48 months for a covered person under 22 years of age and all related services.

• HB 321, sponsored by Reps. P. Scott Lipps (R-Franklin) and Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati), which requires age-appropriate instruction in child sexual abuse and sexual violence prevention and in-service staff training in child sexual abuse prevention.

Senate Finance Committee 

The committee conducted a second hearing on HB 2, sponsored by Reps. Jon Cross (R-Kenton) and Michele Lepore-Hagan (D-Youngstown), which permits a collaboration of school districts, among others, and multiple industry sector partnerships to act as a regional sector partnership and be eligible for state grants.

House Finance Committee

The committee conducted sponsor testimony on SB 26, sponsored by Sen. Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard), which permits teachers to deduct from their state income taxes up to $250 for out-of-pocket expenses for classroom supplies and professional development.