Licensure changes

ODE proposes amendments to rules on licenses for substitutes and alternative resident educators

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) recently filed a set of rule amendments related to temporary licenses. In part, the changes proposed by ODE are based on legislative amendments and on feedback from school districts.  Among the key rule amendments are:

General Assembly revises Autism Scholarship requirements

On May 31, Governor Kasich signed HB 299, which makes revisions to the Autism Scholarship program.  The bill makes two changes to the program.

  1. It expands the categories of individuals who can apply for the Autism Scholarship.
  2. It revises testing and graduation requirements for students in nonpublic schools, including those using state scholarships. 

Autism scholarship

Ohio lawmakers finalize public records bill

State lawmakers have finalized an expedited process to hear complaints from citizens alleging they were wrongfully denied access to public records. The bill, Senate Bill (SB) 321, received unanimous votes in the Ohio House and Senate and is awaiting signature by the Governor.

New legal resources

We wanted to direct your attention to two new legal resources that can be used by school attorneys, board members, and the districts they serve.

Proposed changes to FLSA overtime exemptions

On July 6, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its much-anticipated proposed changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These proposed regulations are the response to President Obama’s March 2014 directive to the Secretary of Labor to “update and modernize” the overtime exemption rules under the FLSA. If adopted, the changes will have a significant impact on employers’ abilities to treat certain employees as exempt from receiving overtime compensation.

Current regulations

New rules for school safety plans

Each board of education is required by law to adopt a “school safety plan” for each building in the district. Recently, the laws have changed regarding the creation and submission of these plans.  Changes to RC 3313.536 became effective last fall, and ODE’s accompanying administrative rule (OAC 3301-5-01) became effective in January.  Changes include:

Name change.  Previously, the law referred to these plans as “school safety plans.”  The new laws change the name of the plans to “emergency management plans.”