by Nicole Piscitani • Feb. 23, 2026
The Ohio General Assembly passed numerous bills in November. In addition to the property tax bills that impacted education, there was an additional bill solely focused on K-12 education. For many years, the state has allowed school districts to pick one of two dates for their kindergarten admission cutoff date: A child needed to be at least 5 years old by either Aug. 1 or Sept. 30. Additionally, Ohio allows school districts to establish an early admittance policy for incoming kindergarteners who are not 5 years old by the deadline.
In November, House Bill (HB) 114 passed both the House and Senate with bipartisan support, and Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill. It is fairly simple, with the provision changing the cutoff date for 5-year-olds to the school year’s first day of instruction. While the change in law is fairly simple, school districts will need to continuously communicate this change to their communities. Additionally, the first day of instruction is not defined in the law. The admittance date will change year to year. School districts that have a different start date for kindergartners than for first through 12th graders will need to consult policy and legal staff to implement a policy that is consistent year after year.
The General Assembly didn’t change current law as it pertains to 4-year-olds entering kindergarten. A school district can allow a 4-year-old who will turn 5 by Jan. 1 of the requested school year admittance after a referral and evaluation process. The law does not specify what criteria is to be considered and leaves the early admittance discretion to the school board. However, a school board should have an early admittance policy. Four-year-olds who turn 5 after Jan. 1 can still seek early admittance under a school district’s student acceleration policy. The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) has a Model Acceleration Policy and allows districts to use either the model policy or a district policy. However, if a district decides to use a district-created policy, it must first be approved by ODEW.
HB 114 also contains a provision to fix an issue with the 2024-25 biology end-of-course exam. An error with a single one-point question was discovered. The bill requires that ODEW review the scores of all students who took the test to determine which were affected by the error. Students who answered the question correctly will have their score adjusted to reflect a higher score. If a student answered the question incorrectly but the original score reflected it as correct, the student’s score will not be decreased. Lastly, if a student’s score qualifies the student for a Science or Honors Diploma Seal, the district or school in which the student was enrolled during the 2024-25 school year is to award the seal on the student’s diploma. HB 114 will go into effect on March 20, 2026.