School Law Workshop
OSBA’s annual Capital Conference is less than a week away and the division of legal services hopes to see you in attendance on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at the School Law Workshop. The workshop will be held from 9a.m.-4:15p.m. in rooms A210-212. This year we’ll be discussing a range of topics, including recent developments and trends in school law, the status of health insurance…
As the Legal Ledger reported back in August, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has been working on amendments to its rule on required licenses for substitutes. The amendment process is now complete and…
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.…
A recent employee fatality in a school district highlighted an important, but often overlooked requirement by the Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC): reporting. BWC/PERRP requires that all employee fatalities resulting from a work-related incident must be reported and recorded within eight hours, including inpatient hospitalization of three or more employees from a single work-related incident. The eight-hour reporting requirement starts when the accident takes place or as soon as the district becomes aware of the death or multiple hospitalizations. Reporting can be done either in-person…
In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education that public-sector unions may be allowed to charge non-members an agency fee, also known as “fair-share.” These fees must be used strictly for the union’s overhead and administrative costs, such as the expenses incurred in negotiating contracts that benefit and apply to all employees, including those who are not dues-paying members of the union.…
October is National Bullying Prevention Month, which was created with the goal of transforming a society that accepts bullying into one that recognizes that bullying can be addressed through education and support. It’s a great time for your school community to raise awareness of bullying and its consequences, and to promote your bullying prevention efforts.
Ohio law defines “harassment, intimidation and bullying” in RC 3313.666 as either…
Last year, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick made headlines for his refusal to stand for the National Anthem. NFL players, professional athletes in other sports and even Stevie Wonder recently followed Kaepernick’s example, motivated in part by President Trump’s call for team owners to fire and otherwise silence players who participate. As football season kicks off at high schools around the country, districts may wonder how to respond.
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Today, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) issued interim guidance for schools on how to investigate and adjudicate allegations of sexual misconduct under Title IX. The guidance follows a Sept. 7 announcement from Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos that DOE and its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will initiate a process to…
OSBA’s legal assistance fund (LAF) supports school districts that are defending legal challenges with the potential to affect public schools statewide. Recently, the LAF board of trustees voted to approve amicus briefs in support of school districts in two cases: Wilson v. McCormack …
Today, all schools may choose to make automatic electronic defibrillators (AEDs) readily available, but what are the legal risks involved in using the devices? Should a school district be prepared to respond to legal challenges if its employees use the AEDs?
According to the American Heart Association, to date, no known judgments have been rendered against the operator of an AED for negligent or improper use. The Air & Space Lawyer (a publication of the American Bar Association) published an article opining the “liability claims associated with the negligent operation of AEDs…
