Under Ohio’s Open Meetings Act, boards and other public bodies are permitted to enter executive session to discuss specific topics spelled out in the law. In essence, executive session is a built-in exception to the general requirement that public bodies conduct their deliberations in public. This provision recognizes that the nature of certain topics makes privacy and discretion in deliberations paramount.
The need for and…
Access to student records
A board member’s access to student records may be limited under federal law. The Family Educational Rights and…
In today’s Legal Ledger Sidebar, Sara Clark and John Price discuss committees and subcommittees, which is a topic that comes up frequently for our members. Specifically, they discuss when committees are required to comply with the Open Meetings Act and what that means.
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The last budget bill, House Bill 33, made significant changes to public education in Ohio. Over the last few months, OSBA’s legal division has been sharing information and resources developed by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) to implement those changes. One of those resources, a …
As we approach the March 19 primary election, we’ve started receiving more calls on the legal hotline about the ability of board members and district employees to engage in political activities.
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In the most recent OSBA Legal Ledger Sidebar, Sara Clark and Jennifer Hardin discuss voting at school board meetings, including quorum, specific requirements for votes, method of voting and executive sessions.
For more…
Earlier this week, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education issued new guidance documents on Section 504 (Sec. 504) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Sec. 504 prohibits discrimination against students with disabilities by public schools and other institutions receiving federal funds. The four new guidance documents provide assistance to school districts on Sec. 504 rights of students with specific conditions.
…Recently, we’ve received several calls on the OSBA legal hotline about the ability of a board member to serve in different capacities within the community. Being an effective board member requires a combination of skills and traits, and a commitment to the welfare of the educational community. It is these same skills, traits and commitments that make school board members so appealing for service in other…
OSBA’s popular Special Education Law Workshop is just two weeks away! This year, the workshop is taking place on Friday, February 23, 2024, from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. We’re offering the workshop as a hybrid event for your convenience. You can either join us in person at OSBA’s offices at 8050 North High St. in Columbus or join us virtually on Zoom. Click here to save your spot for the…
For 2024, the OSBA legal division has decided to bring back a popular blog feature: question of the month. We will be focusing on questions that apply to many school board members and come up frequently in phone calls and presentations.
2024's first question of the month is: Can a school board member sell anything to the district? There are a couple of laws that apply to this question.
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