Tax-free holiday
From Friday, Aug. 3 at 12a.m. to Sunday, Aug. 5 at 11:59p.m., shoppers in Ohio won’t have to pay sales tax on clothing costing less than $75 per item and school supplies and instructional…
Posted by Megan E. Greulich on
Posted by Jennifer A. Hardin on
Two state agencies have recently prepared new resources for school districts: The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) updated its truancy and attendance guidance, and the Ohio History Connection (OHC) added resources for properly managing local government records.
Truancy and discipline resources
House Bill (HB) 410, passed last year by the Ohio General Assembly, altered state attendance and truancy laws.…
Posted by Jennifer A. Hardin on
ODE proposes amendments to rules on licenses for substitutes and alternative resident educators
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) recently filed a set of rule amendments related to temporary licenses. In part, the changes proposed by ODE are based on legislative amendments and on feedback from school districts. Among the key rule amendments are:
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Posted by Jennifer Hardin on
On May 31, Governor Kasich signed HB 299, which makes revisions to the Autism Scholarship program. The bill makes two changes to the program.
- It expands the categories of individuals who can apply for the Autism Scholarship.
- It revises testing and graduation requirements for students in nonpublic schools, including those using state scholarships.
Autism scholarship
The Autism Scholarship program, administered by the…
Posted by Sara Clark on
State lawmakers have finalized an expedited process to hear complaints from citizens alleging they were wrongfully denied access to public records. The bill, Senate Bill (SB) 321, received unanimous votes in the Ohio House and Senate and is awaiting signature by the Governor.
Under current law, an individual may seek to compel the production of a public record by mandamus action, which is a lawsuit to compel a public official…
Posted by Shadya Yazback on
In December, the General Assembly enacted the “ban the box” law, House Bill (H.B.) 56. The bill creates R.C. 9.73, which prohibits public employers in Ohio from including any questions about a person’s criminal background on employment applications. School districts should take steps now to ensure compliance with the law when it becomes effective on March 23, 2016.
While employers will no longer be able to ask about a candidate’s criminal history on employment applications…
Posted by Shadya Yazback on
Among the many provisions impacting school districts in the biennium budget (HB 64) that took effect on September 29, 2015 was a significant change to the property disposal process for school districts.
Pursuant to newly-enacted Revised Code Section (RC) 3313.413, school districts seeking to dispose of real property must now first offer the property for sale to the governing authorities of high-performing community schools and any newly established community schools that are implementing a community school model that has a track…
Posted by Shadya Yazback on
The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has released an information sheet on testing dates for FY2016, adjusted for the changes required by the recent passage of the biennium budget. The department has also issued a guidance document on safe harbor provisions designed to assist administrators in understanding the…
Posted by Sara Clark on
We wanted to direct your attention to two new legal resources that can be used by school attorneys, board members, and the districts they serve.
- Academic Distress Commissions
House bill 70, which was signed by Gov. John Kasich on July 16, made significant changes to state academic distress commissions. Under the new law, which will become effective on October 15, the superintendent of public instruction is required to establish an academic distress commission for any school district that: 1) receives an overall grade of “F” for three consecutive years…
Posted by Sara Clark on
On July 6, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its much-anticipated proposed changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These proposed regulations are the response to President Obama’s March 2014 directive to the Secretary of Labor to “update and modernize” the overtime exemption rules under the FLSA. If adopted, the changes will have a significant impact on employers’ abilities to treat certain employees as exempt from receiving overtime compensation.
Current regulations
The FLSA is a federal law that sets forth minimum wage, overtime,…