Ohio Supreme Court
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the House and Senate state legislative maps approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission are unconstitutional. The Ohio Redistricting Commission has 10 days to approve new maps.

School Finance Payment Reports
The Ohio Department of Education debuted last week the first payment to school districts and other educational entities under the new school-funding formula enacted last June through House Bill 110. The payments, accessible through the School Finance Payment Reports (SFPR), display information on each funding elements of the new funding formula with all the relevant data elements and calculation parameters for each individual educational entity. Updates to the SFPR are expected, and questions can be submitted to schoolfunding@education.ohio.gov.

House activity
The Ohio House Democratic Caucus announced that Rep. Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) was selected as the new minority leader. Rep. Thomas West (D-Canton) was selected as the new assistant minority leader; Rep. Jessica E. Miranda (D-Forest Park) as minority whip; and Rep. Richard Brown (D-Canal Winchester) as assistant minority whip.

Ohio Department of Education
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released updated criteria for the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. Click here for that information. ODE also announced updated requirements for hiring school employees. Click here to read that information.

Additionally, ODE announced a new communication feature to put all proposed rules that are open for public comment in one place on ODE’s website. Click here to view the rules open for public comment.

New Board Member 101 workshops
Experienced OSBA staff have designed a weekend program full of the key information necessary to give new board members the confidence and tools to flatten the learning curve. Board Member 101 includes sessions on governance, collaboration, legal parameters, parliamentary procedure, meeting management, policy management, legislative understanding, district advocacy and school financing. The program is designed to allow new board members to ask questions, network with others and discover the many resources OSBA offers to district members. The workshops are scheduled for Jan. 22. Click here for additional information and to register.

Posted by Nicole Piscitani on 1/14/2022