The Legal Ledger

OSBA’s legal assistance fund (LAF) supports school districts that are defending legal challenges with the potential to affect public schools statewide. Earlier this month, the LAF board of trustees voted to approve an amicus brief in support of the Delaware Area Career Center (DACC) in the case Delaware Joint Vocational School District v. Testa.

The case involves a Renewal Levy passed in November 2015 by DACC. Ninety-nine percent of DACC’s territory is in Delaware County, while less than 1% falls in Franklin, Marion, Morrow and Union Counties combined (DACC Territory). Like DACC,…

Yesterday, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released its draft overview of Ohio’s State Plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 

ODE developed the draft overview after a year of meetings and outreach to Ohio’s educators, parents and community members about the state’s educational system.  According to Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria, the plan’s major policy points include:

• Establishing stability in the…

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Endrew F v.  Douglas County School District.  The case involves the legal standard the courts will apply when determining whether a school district has provided FAPE as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA). 

The question presented in this case involves IDEA’s provision that federal funds will be provided to states that make FAPE available to every…

There are three instances where boards of education must competitively bid:

1. Boards of education must solicit bids to “build, repair, enlarge, improve or demolish any school building” if the cost of the work is over $25,000.
2. Boards of education must competitively bid any contracts for the purchase of school buses.
3. Boards of education must competitively bid when purchasing food and supplies, including management company services, if the cost is over $150,000.

The legal division often gets questions about whether the competitive bidding threshold…

Three . . . two . . . one . . . Happy New Year!  

Restraint and seclusion reporting

Dec. 16 is the deadline for schools to submit annual reports of student restraint and seclusion incidents to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). Districts are asked to complete an online survey to fulfill their annual reporting obligations set forth under Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) 3301-35-15. In an effort to improve statewide reporting accuracy, ODE has created additional guidance documents and sample reporting forms.…

On November 22, a judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted an emergency motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction barring implementation of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new overtime rule.  The rule, which was scheduled to take effect on December 1, was expected to make more than four million workers eligible for overtime pay.  The court’s decision can be found under “notable cases” on the court’s website. 

Twenty-one states, including Ohio, argued that DOL…

Earlier this week, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) made additional materials on education of students in foster care available on its website.  The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires new guidelines and resources to ensure that students in foster care have improved educational outcomes.  The purpose of the guidelines is to remove educational barriers faced by students in foster care, such as traumatization, high mobility, and undiagnosed behavioral and health conditions. 

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Earlier this year, the OSBA Legal Assistance Fund (LAF) was asked to support the Tolles Career and Technical School Board of Education.  The LAF board of trustees voted to write an amicus brief on behalf of the board and to provide assistance with the cost of the litigation.  On November 21, the 12^th Appellate District Court decided in favor of the board of education. 

In the case, Tolles Career & Technical School Bd. of Edn. v. Tolles Edn. Assn.,…

On Nov. 1, the Ohio Department of Commerce (ODC) released its draft version of the medical marijuana cultivator rules. The rules are available on the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program (OMMCP) website: medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov/rules.

The rules provide ODC the ability to issue up to 18 provisional cultivator licenses prior to Sept. 8, 2018, and allow discretion to ODC’s director to issue additional provisional licenses after Sept. 9, 2018. While these rules might not directly affect schools, there are several provisions that…