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Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits gender discrimination in any education program or activity that is supported by federal monies.  On April 24, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) reminded schools receiving federal dollars that they must designate at least one employee to coordinate Title IX compliance and released a guidance package relating to Title IX compliance.

Each school district must have a designated Title IX coordinator at all times.  The Title IX coordinator is responsible for coordinating their school district’s…

Each board of education is required by law to adopt a “school safety plan” for each building in the district. Recently, the laws have changed regarding the creation and submission of these plans.  Changes to RC 3313.536 became effective last fall, and ODE’s accompanying administrative rule (OAC 3301-5-01) became effective in January.  Changes include:

Name change.  Previously, the law referred to these plans as “school safety plans.”  The new laws change the name of the plans to “emergency management plans.”

More schools must adopt plans.…

On January 25, 2013, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) notifying schools that students with disabilities must be afforded equal access to extracurricular athletics. The DCL comes after the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report noting the positive impact that extracurricular athletics has on students, especially those with disabilities. In its report, the GAO determined that public elementary and secondary students with disabilities are not being provided an equal opportunity to participate in…

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has recently revised its Employment Eligibility Verification form, Form I-9. Employers are required to use this form to verify the identity of each new employee hired and to verify that they are authorized to work in the United States. However, employers are not required to complete the revised version of Form I-9 for current employees that already have a properly completed form on file, unless re-verification is required. Re-verification is required when a current employee's employment authorization or employment authorization…

School districts sometimes receive requests for public records citing the federal Freedom of Information Act, or "FOIA."

Are school districts in Ohio, political subdivisions of the State, subject to the Freedom of Information Act? The answer is no.

The federal law does not apply to state agencies or local political subdivisions, which include school districts, township trustees, sheriff's offices, villages, city councils, county commissioners, etc. [U.S. Code Title 5, Sections 551(1) and 552(f)] There are a number of Ohio Supreme Court cases noting that the FOIA does not…

Effective January 1, 2009, the School Employee Health Care Board (SEHCB) outlined four best practice standards, which are codified in Section 3306-2-03 of the Administrative Code. The fourth of these standards addresses dependent eligibility audits and requires all health plan sponsors offering health care plans to employees of a public school district to conduct periodic dependent eligibility audits and send the aggregate results of the audit to the SEHCB.

Dependent eligibility audits are…

So-called "jammers" block the signals of telecommunications devices so that they do not function in certain areas. Given the proliferation of cell phones in schools, many educators would love to have an "off" switch they could flip in classrooms or during testing periods. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) takes the position that the use of jammers violates the Communication Act of 1934. Its Web site states:

"The operation of transmitters designed to jam or block wireless…

We're back from our brief technology-induced hiatus and, according to the calendar, it's almost time for financial disclosure statement filing. The Ohio Ethics Laws require certain public officials and employees to file annual financial disclosure statements with the Ohio Ethics Commission. The deadline to file the forms is April 15th. Who needs to file? All district treasurers, superintendents, and business managers must file the forms. School board members in districts with ADM in excess of 12,000 must file as well. Not sure if your…

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Affordability Act of 1996 and its regulations contain a Privacy Rule that requires covered health care providers to keep health information confidential. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) covers students enrolled in elementary, secondary and postsecondary schools that receive federal funding. It requires school districts to keep confidential students' personally identifiable information other than directory information. Many people are confused about how these two laws work and exactly what information is required to be kept…