The Legal Ledger

Last week,  the state of Ohio launched a new program aimed at encouraging school districts to recruit members of the military, military spouses and veterans as employees. The program, called the Military Recruit Award program, was announced by Gov. Mike DeWine and the Directors of the Ohio Department of…

Summer is still a busy time for school districts and educational service centers in Ohio. There are several deadlines for statutory reporting requirements that fall during the summer months. Among those deadlines are:

• July 19, 2024: The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) has extended the statutory deadline for school districts to report their use of Student Wellness and Success…

Ohio’s Ethics Law generally prohibits a public official from using their influence to secure authorization of a public contract for the public official’s family. However, the Ohio Ethics Commission has held that a school board member can vote, discuss, deliberate, lobby or otherwise participate in the ratification or rejection of a negotiated collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that affects their family member, so long as the following criteria are met:  

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On June 17, 2024, a federal district court in Kentucky issued an injunction blocking implementation of the new Title IX rule issued by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in April. The injunction is effective in Ohio and several other states. Over the past few weeks, OSBA has posted information for our members about the new rule, as it would create significant changes to the scope of Title IX and the processes that must be followed when allegations of sex discrimination are made in schools. This injunction means…

In this week’s Legal…

Last week, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW), in conjunction with Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, announced the publication of a …

On May 15, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) released a new resource for school districts on addressing school attendance, the …

This week’s blog post examines cell phone usage and schools, including the new law requiring districts to adopt a policy on student cell phone use and legal issues related to cell phone use by board members.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently issued a final rule…

We at OSBA get a lot of questions about board vacancies. This topic is tricky because often board vacancies happen unexpectedly or under less-than-ideal circumstances, and the timing requirements under RC 3313.11 can be awkward. The first step is to recognize when a vacancy occurs, so that the board can ensure that it acts within the applicable timelines. Board vacancies occur when a member resigns, moves out of the district, is removed from office, passes away or otherwise becomes ineligible to hold the office. For…