General Assembly activity
The General Assembly sent House Bill (HB) 409 to Gov. Mike DeWine. The bill modifies student attendance requirements at certain e-schools; changes education law for the 2020-21 school year to provide school districts continued flexibility and relief during the COVID-19 pandemic; and provides flexibility to school districts regarding educational requirements of substitute teachers for the 2020-21 school year.

The General Assembly sent HB 436 to the governor. The bill requires districts, by the 2022-23 school year to administer annual dyslexia screenings for students in grades K-5. HB 436 also requires the establishment of a multisensory structured literacy certification process for teachers employed by the district or school who provide instruction in grades K-three. The bill also requires all K-three teachers and special education teachers in grades four-12 to complete between six and 18 hours of professional development over a set time frame.

The General Assembly sent HB 442 to the governor. The bill modifies pupil services licenses to require only registration with the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) if the individual was already licensed by another professional board.

The General Assembly sent HB 210 to the governor. The bill requires preschool programs and other entities licensed by ODE to screen and test prospective employees for tuberculosis as well as annually test certain employees for a five-year period.

The General Assembly also sent Senate Bill (SB) 259 to the governor. The bill requires the installation of water bottle-filling stations and drinking fountains in new school buildings that are constructed with assistance from Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.

Finally, the General Assembly sent SB 68 to the governor. The bill requires a state model curriculum for high school students on proper interactions with peace officers during traffic stops and other encounters and requires districts to incorporate this curriculum into at least one course required for high school graduation.

Senate activity
The Senate passed HB 75 by a vote of 22-9. The bill requires school districts, before filing a property tax complaint, to pass a resolution approving the complaint at a public meeting. The bill also limits the circumstances under which initial, residential property tax complaints may be filed and limits counter-complaint filings only when that initial complaint alleges a change in fair market value of $75,000 or more. The bill was amended on the Senate floor to include provisions of SB 95 which would require the tax commissioner’s biennial report on state tax expenditures to include information on property tax exemptions and requires a periodic review of each property tax exemption. The bill will now be sent to the House for a concurrence vote.

The Senate passed HB 38 by a vote of 30-1. The bill provides a reduced property valuation for tax years 2020, 2021 and 2022 for eligible individuals as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill will now be sent to the House for a concurrence vote.

The Senate passed HB 609 by a vote of 31-0. The bill requires the state tax commissioner to administer a temporary amnesty program from April 1, 2021, through May 31, 2021, with respect to delinquent state taxes and fees; and reaffirms current law regarding the taxing of nonprofits. The bill was amended on the Senate floor to remove a former amendment that changed the annual requirement for nonprofit charter schools to recertify. Additionally, the bill was furthered amended to prevent state health orders that impose different duties, obligations, requirements or standards for similarly situated businesses. The bill will now be sent to the House for a concurrence vote.

The Senate passed HB 421 by a vote of 20-11. The bill was amended on the Senate floor to include provisions from SB 317 to expressly exempt the requirement for peace officer basic training for certain employees whom a board of education authorizes to be armed in a school safety zone. The bill will now be sent to the House for a concurrence vote.

Governor activity
DeWine signed into law HB 123. The bill requires public schools to implement certain programs on and provide instruction in suicide awareness and prevention and violence prevention. HB 123 also provides $2.5 million in payments to dropout prevention and recovery e-schools that are not operated by a for-profit entity and that received an “exceeds standards” rating on their most recent graduation component of the state report card.

Congress
The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed House Resolution 133. The legislation in now awaiting President Trump’s signature. The resolution contains several education-related items, including:

  • $54 billion for elementary and secondary education, received through formula grants to states, at least 90% of which must support local educational agencies’ coronavirus-response activities. Funds will be distributed to states using the Every Student Succeeds Act Title I-A formula.
  • $4.05 billion to governors in each state to allocate at their discretion for emergency support grants to local educational agencies. Of those funds, $2.75 billion are to be used for private K-12 schools.
  • Extends the spending deadline of the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) to Dec. 30, 2021. The original deadline was Dec. 30, 2020.

Posted by Nicole Piscitani on 12/23/2020