Last Friday, the federal government issued an announcement introducing the “Title IX Special Investigations Team” (SIT). The announcement indicated that SIT will be a joint effort of the U.S.
In this week's Legal Ledger Sidebar, OSBA's Scott Gerfen and John Price discuss special education model policies.
One of the bills enacted in the last general assembly requires school districts to make information about the telephone number for the national suicide and crisis lifeline available to students. The new law, Ohio Revised Code (RC) 3313.474, is effective on April 9, 2025. It requires that each district serving any of grades nine through 12 include the telephone number (988) in the following places, if they are used by the district:
The Ohio Ethics Commission (OEC) recently weighed in on the application of the Ohio Ethics Law to public officials or employees participating in matters involving their domestic partners.
One of the initiatives implemented by the Ohio General Assembly in the last term was the funding of school safety training grants. The funding is awarded to public and private schools by the Office of the Attorney General of Ohio (OhioAGO), in consultation with the Director of Education and Workforce and the Director of Mental Health and Addiction Services. According to House Bill 33, the funds are available to make grants to schools and law enforcement agencies to support:
On February 11, the Ohio Department of Education released the Tier 1 Schoolwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Module Series.
Back in August, OSBA’s Legal Ledger provided an overview of some of the more frequently asked questions we receive about released time for religious instruction.
Recently, President Donald J. Trump has signed executive orders, and several federal agencies have issued communications, addressing various policy areas, including K-12 education. While executive orders primarily guide federal agencies, they often indicate broader policy priorities that may impact schools and educational institutions. Given that several recent orders impact the U.S. Department of Education or discuss K-12 education, we are providing a summary and links to these executive orders and communications.
Executive orders
One of the bills that was passed by the Ohio General Assembly at the end of 2024 was House Bill (HB) 257. The bill, which is effective on April 9, 2025, enacted Ohio Revised Code (RC) 121.221, which allows some public bodies to hold meetings by video conference or similar electronic technology. (For purposes of this blog post, I’ll refer to these meetings as “virtual meetings.”) However, as discussed below, this provision does not allow boards of education to conduct virtual meetings and may actually make virtual attendance at meetings more restrictive.
