Legislative Changes

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.”

As a result of House Bill (HB) 487, community (AKA charter) school and STEM school students may now participate in extracurricular activities in certain school districts under RC 3313.537. The changes became effective on September 17, 2014. 

What are the changes?

Last week, the Ohio House of Representative and Ohio Senate took action to develop a plan that will provide four additional calamity days to school districts.  Here’s a summary of some of the key provisions of the bill, as well as the answers to a few of the more frequently asked questions we’ve received:

As of October 11, 2013, HB 14 has limited the circumstances in which a board of education may withhold the grades and credits of students who have failed to pay fees and charges. Under the newly amended provisions of RC 3313.642, boards of education are prohibited from withholding the grades, credits, official transcripts, diplomas, IEPs, or 504 plans of a student for the nonpayment of fees for materials used during the course of instruction if:

-a complaint has been filed in juvenile court alleging that a student is an abused, neglected, or dependent child; or

On June 30, 2013, House Bill (HB) 59, also known as the budget bill, was signed by Governor Kasich. Effective September 29, 2013, the bill added a new topic to the topics that may be discussed during an executive session of a public body.

Under current law, RC 121.22 (G) provides seven topics, six of which are applicable to school boards, which allow public bodies to remove themselves from public view to engage in discussion regarding certain matters.

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.

Effective April 26, 2013, any individual applying for a first-time pupil-activity program permit or permit renewal is required to complete certain training programs related to concussions and head injuries in order to coach interscholastic activities.

On January 14, 2013, President Barack Obama signed the "Uninterrupted Scholars Act of 2013." The Act amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), which generally prohibits the release of personally identifiable information from student education records without written consent from a parent or eligible student.

As of September 24, 2012, the deadline for the notification of contract nonrenewals for teachers and all administrators, except superintendents and treasurers, has changed. SB 316, which became effective on September 24, 2012, requires districts to provide notice to teachers whose contracts will be nonrenewed by June 1 (RC 3319.11). Previously, districts were required to provide teachers notice by April 30. In addition, districts must provide notice to administrators, other than superintendents and treasurers, whose contracts will be nonrenewed by June 1 (RC 3319.02).

I recently listened to a webinar conducted by the Ohio Historical Society (OHS) that was designed to review best practices for managing and retaining public records in Ohio. The host of the webinar mentioned a change that HB 153 made to record retention practices. It has the potential to lessen the burden on school districts with regard to the disposal of records, so it's worth repeating.