January is a time when many boards of education take stock of the management of their school districts. It is organizational meeting season, and often there are new members joining the board’s ranks. We at OSBA also receive many calls this time of year about what steps boards must take if they want to renew or non-renew a superintendent’s contract and when these steps must be taken.
Late in December, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued an opinion providing important clarity to public bodies, including school boards, facing claims that they have violated Ohio’s Open Meeting Act (OMA). The case, Ames v. Rootstown Twp. Bd.
January brings new year’s resolutions, bowl games and (for school districts) organizational meetings. Everyone loves a checklist, so here it is: your handy-dandy organizational meeting checklist!
Timing:
_____ City, local, and exempted village boards of education must meet during the first fifteen days of January.
_____ Joint vocational boards of education and educational service center governing boards must meet in January.
Presiding officer:
While you are planning your visit to the 2018 OSBA Capital Conference, make sure to take advantage of the OSBA Conference App.
Earlier this week, two amicus curiae briefs were filed with the Supreme Court of Ohio on behalf of the Ohio School Boards Association. In both briefs, OSBA was joined by other parties. OSBA had been asked by member school districts to prepare these briefs through its Legal Assistance Fund.
Does your board have new members? Have you been a board member for a while, but want to brush up on some of the basics? OSBA’s upcoming workshop — “Board member 101: Survival kit for your first 90 days in office” — may be just the ticket.
As the end of the school year approaches, one of the more popular questions we receive has to do with the salary notice schools provide to their employees. Legally, RC 3319.12 requires boards of education, by the first day of July, to give each teacher who holds a valid contract for the succeeding school year a “notice” of the salary they are to be paid. A similar notice requirement appears in RC 3319.082 for nonteaching school employees.
Three . . . two . . . one . . . Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! At the beginning of every year, the division of legal services receives questions relating to organizational meeting procedures and the administration of the oath of office. Let’s take a moment to review the basics.
RC 3313.14 requires, city, local, exempted village and joint vocational school (JVS) boards to organize within the first 15 days of January. An educational service center (ESC) governing board has until the end of the month to hold its organizational meeting.
In our final blog post for 2015, we’re taking a look at the last of the most common conflict-of-interest questions OSBA receives on its hotline: board members who hold more than one public office. Previous weeks have covered scenarios where:
