Attendance

OSBA’s legal services division hosted its annual Attendance, Tuition and Custody Law Workshop today in Columbus.  This year, more than 170 school district EMIS professionals participated in an open and active discussion about a variety of topics. 

At the workshop, speakers shared information about resources that have been prepared by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). For those of you who weren’t able to attend the workshop today, here are links to some of those resources.

HB 410

House Bill (HB) 359, Ohio’s new Safe at Home program, became effective yesterday, Sept. 8. The HB 359 bill analysis is available here. The program creates a system of address confidentiality implemented through the secretary of state’s (SOS) office.

With the end of summer comes falling leaves, football, and OSBA’s legal hotline abuzz with enrollment questions throughout the state.  One of those questions:  our school district requests a student’s social security number (SSN) to enroll students.  What do we do if the parent doesn’t provide one?

Under the Privacy Act of 1974, a school district may not prevent a student from enrollment for failure to provide their SSN or proof the student has an SSN. 

Unmarried parents and enrollment issues

Under Ohio Revised Code Section (RC) 3109.042, an unmarried woman that gives birth to a child is the sole legal custodian and residential parent of that child unless and until a court issues an order that designates another individual, including the father, as the legal custodian and residential parent. This is true even if the unmarried father’s name appears on the birth certificate. 

Recently, the Ohio Attorney General’s office (OAG) was asked to provide clarification regarding a district’s tuition obligation for adult students who “support themselves by their own labor.”  Since this phrase is not currently defined by law, the OAG was asked for an opinion on its meaning.  But before we delve too far into the opinion, some additional background information may be in order.

On December 20, 2012, House Bill (HB) 279 was signed by Governor Kasich. This bill made several significant changes to the laws regarding the grandparent power of attorney and caretaker authorization affidavit. The new language will become effective on March 20, 2013.