The Legal Ledger

In Ohio, boards of education are required to seek formal bids from potential vendors before they “build, repair, enlarge, improve or demolish a school building” if the cost of the work is over a certain threshold amount. Currently, state law sets the…

Here in the Legal Division, we answer a lot of questions about board meeting agendas. Agendas are an important tool boards use to conduct efficient meetings and keep discussions at meetings on track. Given how commonly boards of education use agendas, it may be surprising to learn that the Ohio Revised Code (RC) has nothing to say about them.* This means that the creation and use of agendas are governed almost entirely by board policy.

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Ohio law prohibits the governing body of a political subdivision from using public funds to support or oppose the passage of a levy or bond issue or to compensate any employee for time spent on an activity intended to influence the outcome of a levy or bond issue. In the most recent OSBA Legal Ledger Sidebar, Sara Clark and Jennie Hardin provide information to help your district navigate the legal landscape when a levy or bond issue is on the ballot.

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On Aug. 6, the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas issued a decision finding that House Bill (HB) 68, legislation banning the use of certain medical interventions for transgender youth and barring the participation of transgender girls in girls’ and women’s sports, was constitutional. The court vacated the temporary restraining order which had been blocking its enforcement since the spring. This means that the bill in its entirety has gone into immediate effect.

The bill contains two separate provisions related to transgender youth, both of which impact schools. The first…

This week’s blog post focuses on some of the more frequently asked questions we receive about released time for religious instruction. “Released time” is a period of time during which a student is excused from school to attend a course in religious instruction conducted by a private entity off school district property. Released time programs require districts to balance students’ First Amendment rights to religious expression with the…

This month, the legal division is using the Sidebar discussion to tackle the “Question of the Month.” The question is: “Can a school district official or employee hire their family members?” Jennifer Hardin and John Price discuss Ohio’s law prohibiting nepotism, including who is covered by the law, what the law actually prohibits, and who is an official's family member.

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Last week,  the state of Ohio launched a new program aimed at encouraging school districts to recruit members of the military, military spouses and veterans as employees. The program, called the Military Recruit Award program, was announced by Gov. Mike DeWine and the Directors of the Ohio Department of…

Summer is still a busy time for school districts and educational service centers in Ohio. There are several deadlines for statutory reporting requirements that fall during the summer months. Among those deadlines are:

• July 19, 2024: The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) has extended the statutory deadline for school districts to report their use of Student Wellness and Success…

Ohio’s Ethics Law generally prohibits a public official from using their influence to secure authorization of a public contract for the public official’s family. However, the Ohio Ethics Commission has held that a school board member can vote, discuss, deliberate, lobby or otherwise participate in the ratification or rejection of a negotiated collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that affects their family member, so long as the following criteria are met:  

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On June 17, 2024, a federal district court in Kentucky issued an injunction blocking implementation of the new Title IX rule issued by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in April. The injunction is effective in Ohio and several other states. Over the past few weeks, OSBA has posted information for our members about the new rule, as it would create significant changes to the scope of Title IX and the processes that must be followed when allegations of sex discrimination are made in schools. This injunction means…