The Legal Ledger

As the end of the school year approaches, one of the more popular questions we receive has to do with the salary notice schools provide to their employees. Legally, RC 3319.12 requires boards of education, by the first day of July, to give each teacher who holds a valid contract for the succeeding school year a “notice” of the salary they are to be paid. A similar notice requirement appears in RC 3319.082 for nonteaching school employees. These…

OSBA offers school districts and ESCs in Ohio a wide range of services, access to up-to-date information and research on school issues, and the opportunity to participate actively in the development of educational policy at the state and federal levels. But board members may not be aware of one of the most valuable resources available through OSBA:  the Legal Assistance Fund (LAF).

LAF was established in 1976 to support school districts defending legal challenges with the potential to affect public schools across the state. LAF’s governing trustees are the OSBA president,…

On or before July 1, school and district administrators must check and certify that their district emergency plans are current. As a reminder, district emergency management plans must include the following four parts:

• Safety Plan – a comprehensive all-hazards plan that considers the potential threats and hazards to a school. The plan must address ways administrators will address those threats and a protocol for responding.
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At OSBA, we strive to provide school board members and district administrators with the most relevant and recent information to keep you informed and prepared to provide the best learning environment for Ohio’s public school students. We’ve got some upcoming workshops that can help you do just that.

OCSBA School Attorney Workshop
Nationwide Hotel & Conference Center, Lewis Center
Friday, Jun. 16 …

One of the scariest, yet all-too-common, mishaps involving e-mail is when you hit “send,” but it zips out to the wrong person. More often than not, you immediately realize what you just did. You feel helpless, embarrassed and angry (that there is not an “un-send” key). Depending on the contents of the e-mail, you may even wonder if there are going to be any legal consequences for your gaffe. Luckily, a recent court decision helps to address the legal aspects, although it may do nothing to assuage your personal remorse.

In Templeton v. Fred W. Albrecht Grocery Co., 2017-Ohio-…

In a unanimous decision issued yesterday, the Supreme Court of Ohio upheld the constitutionality of a school district’s searches of a student’s bags. In State v. Polk, the court concluded that schools have a compelling interest in protecting students from harm and it is reasonable for school…

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. According to the…

Teacher licensure is a topic that often causes confusion. As a result, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has made an effort to create and share resources to help address that confusion. Just this week, Early Learning hosted a webinar providing guidance on Ohio’s Licensure for Teachers.

Portions of the webinar focus on Early Learning, but it also serves as a good resource for all administrators and educators as it includes a discussion of the following topics: 1…

In the April OSBA Journal, the ‘According to Law’ article discussed nepotism restrictions. The article’s focus was on Ohio Revised Code (RC) Section 2921.42(A)(1), which prohibits any public official from authorizing the employment of a family member or using his or her position to secure authorization of a family member’s employment. However, we’ve received some questions since then on superintendents making employment recommendations for family members.

While the Journal article was directed at Board members, employees…

June 1 is the deadline for providing written notice to a teacher that the board does not intend to renew his or her contract.  But did you realize that May 1 is another critical deadline if a board is considering non-renewal for a teacher on a limited or extended limited contract?

Districts considering non-renewal of any teacher must follow all of the statutorily required steps by the applicable deadlines.  If the district fails to meet the requirements in the law, the teacher will be deemed…