Teacher licensure is a topic that often causes confusion. As a result, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has made an effort to create and share resources to help address that confusion. Just this week, Early Learning hosted a webinar providing guidance on Ohio’s Licensure for Teachers.
Portions of the webinar focus on Early Learning, but it also serves as a good resource for all administrators and educators as it includes a discussion of the following topics: 1…
In the April OSBA Journal, the ‘According to Law’ article discussed nepotism restrictions. The article’s focus was on Ohio Revised Code (RC) Section 2921.42(A)(1), which prohibits any public official from authorizing the employment of a family member or using his or her position to secure authorization of a family member’s employment. However, we’ve received some questions since then on superintendents making employment recommendations for family members.
While the Journal article was directed at Board members, employees…
June 1 is the deadline for providing written notice to a teacher that the board does not intend to renew his or her contract. But did you realize that May 1 is another critical deadline if a board is considering non-renewal for a teacher on a limited or extended limited contract?
Districts considering non-renewal of any teacher must follow all of the statutorily required steps by the applicable deadlines. If the district fails to meet the requirements in the law, the teacher will be deemed…
Did you know that OSBA’s division of legal services provides fact sheets on many topics relevant to public school districts in Ohio? These quick references provide answers to some of the more frequently asked questions the division receives. In the past year, the division has updated several fact sheets and other publications. Are you using the most recent version? Here are the fact sheets that have been updated in the past year:
Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court answered a question that it had deferred 35 years ago in its seminal opinion on education for children with disabilities—Board of Edn. of Hendrick Hudson Central School Dist. v. Rowley.
In Rowley, the court concluded that the guarantee of a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in what is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is met if a child’s individualized education program (IEP) sets out a program that is “reasonably calculated to enable the child to receive educational benefits.” However…
Ohio’s Open Meetings Act was enacted in 1975 as Ohio Revised Code Section (RC) 121.22. It, together with the Public Records Act (RC 149.43), is commonly referred to as “the Sunshine law.”
The Open Meetings Act’s basic purpose is to require public bodies, including boards of education to:
On Wednesday, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a decision in State ex rel. Delaware Joint Vocational School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Testa, Slip Opinion No. 2017-Ohio-796. The case, discussed in a Jan. 27 Legal Ledger post, involves a Renewal Levy passed in November 2015 by the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC). Ninety-nine percent of DACC’s territory is in Delaware County, while less than 1% falls in Franklin, Marion, Morrow…
On February 22, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice withdrew their previous joint guidance that provided information for schools on the departments’ interpretation of the rights of and protections for transgender students under Title IX. Noting that the “interpretation has given rise to significant litigation regarding school restrooms and locker rooms,” the Departments said “there must be due regard…
Earlier today, a unanimous United States Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools. The Court overturned the lower courts’ decisions and remanded the case to the appeals court to determine whether the plaintiffs’ suit is about a denial of a FAPE rather than discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
The Fry case involved E.F., a student with cerebral palsy, and her assistance dog, Wonder. When E.F. was a kindergartner, her parents, Stacy and…
The Ohio Joint Study Committee on Drug Use Prevention Education was created last August by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, House Speaker Clifford Rosenberger and former Senate President Keith Faber with the goal of studying drug use prevention education in Ohio schools.
As a result of that charge, on Feb. 10, the Ohio Attorney General (OAG) released the…
