On Oct. 20, Judge Jaiza Page of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking enforcement of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s (OHSAA) rule…
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In April 2024, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a new rule that sets technical requirements for school districts and other state and local governments to follow to make sure their websites and mobile apps are accessible to individuals with disabilities. In this month’s Legal Ledger Sidebar, Sara Clark and Jennie Hardin sit down…
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On Sept. 29, the First Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that will allow the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) to move forward with its reduction in force (RIF) of employees who worked in the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). OCR is the office within USDOE that is charged with enforcing many federal civil rights laws in educational institutions,…
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In August, the US Department of Education (USDOE) rescinded a 2015 Dear Colleague letter that described how state and local education agencies could meet their obligations to serve children who are English learners.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 remains in place and continues to apply to schools’ responsibilities for serving English learners and their families. USDOE also left in place a 2015 guidance document they jointly issued with the US Department of…
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We are just a few weeks away from the November 4, 2025, election. As ballots are finalized and campaigns heat up, questions often arise about what school districts can and can’t do when it comes to different campaign activities. Ohio law, specifically …
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Here in OSBA's legal division, we've been getting lots of questions about filling school board vacancies. In particular, we have been hearing from members who anticipate having vacancies in January because not enough candidates are running to fill the available seats. In this week’s Legal Ledger Sidebar, we talk about what boards need to know about filling those vacancies.
As you’ll hear in the video, we talk about OSBA’s board…
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September is attendance awareness month in Ohio. In honor of the month, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) has issued new resources to support boards of education in their work to encourage regular school attendance.
As OSBA’s legal division discussed in the Legal Ledger Sidebar earlier this summer, the Ohio biennial budget bill, House Bill 96, included several changes to state laws on attendance. On Sept. 3, in…
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Each year, on Sept. 17, every district that receives federal funds is required…
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It’s an odd-numbered year, which means that school board positions will be on ballots across the state this November. As we head toward fall, OSBA is fielding questions from both first-time and experienced candidates. From organizing a campaign to record keeping and filing required reports, the legal division works to connect board candidates with available resources to help them run successfully. In this week’s Legal Ledger Sidebar, Scott Gerfen sits down with John Price and Jennie Hardin to talk about some basics for board candidates.
School board candidates are…