OSBA’s legal division publishes many resources that are designed to assist board members and answer many of the frequently asked questions the division receives. These publications are reviewed and updated regularly. Today’s blog post highlights some of our more recently updated publications.
Updated Books:
Sunshine Law for Schools – provides a description of the state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to public records and explains the complex nature of executive sessions and record keeping.
The Ohio School Ethics Guide – provides a comprehensive discussion of the laws in Ohio that define the ethical conduct of school board members and administrators. The book includes information about financial disclosure filing requirements, how to avoid conflict of interests and a guide to the compatibility of certain public offices.
The Family and Medical Leave Act: A practical guide – provides information about an employee’s eligibility and use of FMLA leave, guidance for employers as they administer FMLA leave and practical examples and explanation. This publication is now being made available to members as a free electronic resource.
Updated Fact Sheets
Competitive bidding – provides information about when purchases must be bid, the guidelines that must be followed and the process for awarding competitively bid contracts.
Pupil activity and supplemental contracts – provides information about the differences between supplemental contracts and pupil activity contracts, the initial hiring procedures for both contracts, and how the contracts may be renewed or nonrenewed under Ohio law.
Filling board of education vacancies – provides information about the reasons a vacancy may occur on a board of education, the procedural timelines that boards must follow and the process for appointing a new board member to fill the vacancy.
A comprehensive list of all OSBA’s fact sheets and brochures is available online at: https://www.ohioschoolboards.org/osba-fact-sheets-and-brochures. For information about our legal publications for sale, visit the OSBA bookstore. If you have an idea for a new publication or fact sheet that would be helpful to you, please reach out to OSBA’s division of legal services at 855-OSBA-LAW.