As we approach the end of the 2021-22 school year, there are myriad deadlines that require district officials or employees to act. As a reminder, OSBA’s legal division compiles a list of many of the statutory deadlines for school districts that appear in the Ohio Revised Code. These include nonrenewal deadlines, ODE reporting deadlines, election deadlines, financial reporting deadlines, and more. There is also a link on the website where you can subscribe to this calendar, which allows you to add the important school dates and deadlines to your existing electronic calendars.
This blog post will highlight two upcoming deadlines.
Monday, May 16, 2022 – OEC financial disclosure filing deadline
The Ohio Ethics law requires certain elected officials, candidates for elected offices, public employees and appointees to public positions to annually file a financial disclosure statement with the Ohio Ethics Commission. These disclosure statements require a filer to disclose information regarding their personal financial interests and fiduciary relationships for the preceding calendar year. The law requires the following two groups of school district and ESC officials to file financial disclosure statements.
- All school district and ESC superintendents, treasurers and business managers.
- School district board members and ESC governing board members in districts with a total student count of 12,000 or more, as most recently determined by the department of education
The statutory filing deadline is May 15. However, this year, May 15 falls on a Sunday, so the filing deadline is moved to Monday, May 16, 2022. There are penalties, including late fees and possible fourth-degree misdemeanor criminal charges, for any filers who fail to file their statements on time.
Individuals who are required to file may file online at https://disclosure.ethics.ohio.gov/. Filers may also deliver their statements in person or mail completed statements to the Ohio Ethics Commission. The Ohio Ethics Commission has additional information about this legal requirement on its website, including the answers to some of the more frequently asked questions they’ve received on the topic.
Friday, July 1, 2022 – Anonymous reporting system data submission
In August, we shared information about a new statute that requires districts to provide a method to allow students and adults to anonymously share information about threats to student safety. Districts can either register with the Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Safer Ohio School Tip Line or enter into an agreement with an anonymous reporting program of the district’s choosing. As a part of these new requirements, districts are required to submit data to the ODE and DPS on an annual basis. The departments have created a data collection worksheet to collect information, including the following statutorily-required information:
- The number and type of disciplinary actions taken in the previous school year as a result of anonymous reports;
- The number and type of mental wellness referrals as a result of anonymous reports;
- The race and gender of the students subject to disciplinary actions and mental wellness referrals as a result of anonymous reports.
The deadline to submit the required data for your respective systems is Friday, July 1, 2022. This data is due with the annual certification of emergency management plans. For additional information, please see the FAQ document that the Ohio School Safety Center has issued.
Please let us know if you have general questions about any upcoming dates or deadlines or if our division can provide assistance as you approach the end of your school year.