Posted by John R. Price on

The General Assembly passed a number of key new laws impacting school districts in its lame-duck session to round out 2024. OSBA will continue to push out information on these provisions and changes districts will need to make in the coming weeks and months. Two of these bills impact the administration of medication to students in schools and may require your district to update its policies and educate staff on the new language.

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Posted by Sara C. Clark on

On Nov. 27, 2024, Governor Mike DeWine signed SB 104…

Posted by John R. Price on

This past week, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill (HB) 432, a bill containing key changes to the student data privacy provisions enacted earlier this year in Senate Bill (SB) 29. SB 29, which went into effect in October, imposed significant new requirements on school districts related to student data privacy, including provisions related to contracts with technology providers and restrictions…

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Posted by Jennifer A. Hardin on

One perennial favorite topic on OSBA’s legal hotline is executive sessions. Lately, we’ve been getting questions about whether the information discussed in executive session is legally confidential. It seems like it should be – after all, the board is going behind closed doors to have private discussions on sensitive matters. But is it?

The Open Meetings Act (OMA) is found in Ohio Revised Code (RC) 121.22. It permits executive…

Posted by Jennifer A. Hardin on

Here at the OSBA legal division, we've gotten some recent questions about required training on fraud reporting. The training requirement became effective this year and, for school district officials and employees, the deadline for training is Nov. 29, 2024. Let's dig a little deeper! 

In an amendment effective earlier this year, Ohio Revised Code (RC…

Posted by Sara C. Clark on

Districts are now required to have a policy in place that reasonably accommodates the sincerely held religious beliefs and practices of individual students with regard to all examinations or other academic requirements and absences for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system. Pursuant to

Posted by John R. Price on

On Thursday, Oct. 24, new requirements regarding student data privacy are set to go into effect. These changes are the result of Senate Bill (SB) 29, which was passed by the General Assembly this past July. SB 29 places significant new requirements on school districts as it relates to entering into contracts with technology providers and tracking and monitoring the…

Posted by Jennifer A. Hardin on

In this legal ledger Sidebar, John Price and Jennifer Hardin discuss some of the legal considerations for boards when issuing contracts for coaches, which was one of the highlights from this year’s OSBA Sports Law Workshop Webinar Series.  

Posted by Sara C. Clark on

A consent agenda is a parliamentary procedure tool that allows boards to streamline the approval of routine, non-controversial items that typically do not need discussion or debate. The general idea is to save time by grouping self-explanatory items together and approving them in one motion, instead of handling each one individually. Common items on a consent agenda might include the approval of meeting minutes, routine financial…

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Posted by John R. Price on

This past July, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued an important decision in the case known as Look Ahead America v. Stark County Board of Elections. The ruling clarifies Ohio Revised Code (RC) 121.22(G)(2) in a way that may limit the ability of boards of education…

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