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.
In December, the General Assembly enacted the “ban the box” law, House Bill (H.B.) 56. The bill creates R.C. 9.73, which prohibits public employers in Ohio from including any questions about a person’s criminal background on employment applications. School districts should take steps now to ensure compliance with the law when it becomes effective on March 23, 2016.
Among the many provisions impacting school districts in the biennium budget (HB 64) that took effect on September 29, 2015 was a significant change to the property disposal process for school districts.
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has released an information sheet on testing dates for FY2016, adjusted for the changes required by the recent passage of the biennium budget. The department has also issued a guidance document on safe harbor provisions designed to assist administrators in understanding the prov
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.
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
House Bill 290, which became effective March 23, 2015, amended some of the language found in RC 3313.77 in regards to the “use of school premises for public meetings and entertainment.”
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:
