The Legal Ledger

Does your board have new members? Have you been a board member for a while, but want to brush up on some of the basics? OSBA’s upcoming workshop — “Board member 101: Survival kit for your first 90 days in office” — may be just the ticket.

This two-day workshop focuses on helping board members, particularly those who are new to their positions, to develop into more effective educational leaders. OSBA staff from the divisions of board and management services, legal services, policy, and legislative services are…

Ohio Revised Code (RC) 3313.82 requires every school district and educational service center (ESC) to assemble a business advisory council. As part of the most recent budget bill, the Ohio General Assembly enacted RC 3313.821, which directs the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the governor’s executive workforce board, to establish standards for the operation of business advisory councils. Those…

On Dec. 7, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) released a Q&A document clarifying the scope of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) following the Supreme Court of the United States’ (SCOTUS) March 2017 decision in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District.

The SCOTUSblog provides resources…

The Local Government Records Program at the Ohio History Connection recently shared an updated model retention schedule for school districts. The schedule identifies records that are commonly created by school districts and provides suggestions for the length of their retention. These retention periods are either required by statute or determined by…

One month from today, hundreds of newly-elected board members will begin terms of office on their local boards of education. Board inquiries concerning board transition, the organizational meeting, oath of office, and new board member training opportunities are some of the most frequently asked questions we respond to at this time of year. Please find below a list of resources OSBA has compiled to help districts, and new board members, during this transitional period:

Board member transition

• …

The administrative offices for a district burn to the ground. A tornado wipes out electrical service for all of the schools in another district for three weeks. Computer hackers take over a district’s mainframe, shutting staff out and wiping out years of stored data. Would your district be prepared for one of these events?

As we head into the winter months, it’s a good time to think about whether your district is prepared in the event that weather, fire or some other emergency significantly affects the district’s operations. OSBA has made…

School Law Workshop

OSBA’s annual Capital Conference is less than a week away and the division of legal services hopes to see you in attendance on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the School Law Workshop. The workshop will be held from 9a.m.-4:15p.m. in rooms A210-212. This year we’ll be discussing a range of topics, including recent developments and trends in school law, the status of health insurance…

As the Legal Ledger reported back in August, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has been working on amendments to its rule on required licenses for substitutes.  The amendment process is now complete and…

Two state agencies have recently prepared new resources for school districts: The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) updated its truancy and attendance guidance, and the Ohio History Connection (OHC) added resources for properly managing local government records.

Truancy and discipline resources

House Bill (HB) 410, passed last year by the Ohio General Assembly, altered state attendance and truancy laws.…

A recent employee fatality in a school district highlighted an important, but often overlooked requirement by the Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC): reporting. BWC/PERRP requires that all employee fatalities resulting from a work-related incident must be reported and recorded within eight hours, including inpatient hospitalization of three or more employees from a single work-related incident. The eight-hour reporting requirement starts when the accident takes place or as soon as the district becomes aware of the death or multiple hospitalizations. Reporting can be done either in-person…