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What happens when the person elected to a school board position in November decides they don’t want to be a board member? Over the years, OSBA’s legal division has gotten a number of questions from school districts with a variety of factual situations involving how their boards will be structured after an election. One unusual situation is when a person who was elected in November has decided in the intervening months that they are not interested in serving in the position. The key question to answer is when does the position become vacant. 

As explained in previous blog posts…

Welcome to 2024! As we kick off a new year, please remember that OSBA offers many tools and resources to help you organize your board and keep track of approaching legal deadlines, upcoming workshops and seminars, and other important dates.

OSBA would like to thank our extern, Joshua Menden, for drafting this week's blog post.

As the holidays approach, it may be a time for general cheer and merrymaking, but before hanging the stockings, boards of education must remember some of the important deadlines coming up. So, say goodbye to 2023, and get ready to ring in 2024 with your board’s annual organizational meeting.…

It is hard to believe, but the holiday season is here, and we are quickly approaching the end of 2022. The holiday break is around the corner, the Buckeyes are in the College Football Playoff, and we’re about to ring in 2023. For boards of education, though, there are important deadlines and other items to keep in mind as we approach January despite the festivities of the season.

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January brings new year’s resolutions, bowl games and (for school districts) organizational meetings. Everyone loves a checklist, so here it is: your handy-dandy organizational meeting checklist!

Timing:

_____ City, local, and exempted village boards of education must meet during the first fifteen days of January.

_____ Joint vocational boards of education and educational service center governing boards must meet in January.

Presiding officer:

_____ If the members of the former board selected a president pro tempore for…

Pursuant to RC 3313.14, school boards must set the date of their January organizational meeting by Dec. 31. Under the statute, it is the…

Three . . . two . . . one . . . Happy New Year!  

Happy New Year! At the beginning of every year, the division of legal services receives questions relating to organizational meeting procedures and the administration of the oath of office. Let’s take a moment to review the basics.

RC 3313.14 requires, city, local, exempted village and joint vocational school (JVS) boards to organize within the first 15 days of January. An educational service center (ESC) governing board has until the end of the month to hold its organizational meeting.

The meeting should be called to order by the president pro tem, and opening ceremonies (…

‘Tis the season for board transition!  But what happens if your board returns from the holidays in January at less than full capacity?  A vacancy may occur on the board for many reasons, but vacancies typically occur in January as a result of one of two things.  Either a board member has resigned from the board during the middle of his/her term with an effective date of December 31 or the board had more open seats than interested candidates at the most recent election.  In either case, a vacancy will occur on the board as of January 1 and the vacancy should be filled…

Before beginning the duties of the office, each new board member is required to take an oath of office. Board inquiries concerning the administration of the oath prove to be some of the most frequently asked questions we respond to in early January. Below, I have provided answers to some of the recent questions we have received.

Who may give the oath of office? The oath may be given by a number of people, including the treasurer, any other current board member, any…