Pursuant to RC 3313.14, school boards must set the date of their January organizational meeting by Dec. 31. Under the statute, it is the treasurer’s responsibility to poll the board and establish a date, time and place for the organizational meeting and issue public notice of it.
OSBA’s legal division gets a lot of calls this time of year as school boards prepare for these meetings, and the association offers a number of resources to help board members plan and conduct them. These resources include:
- School board organization meeting and oath of office fact sheet
- Legal Ledger: Organizing for the organizational meeting
- Five fast facts: Tips on running successful board meetings
At their final meeting in December, most boards will name a person who will be a member in January to preside as a president pro tempore at the organizational meeting. This eliminates the awkward situation of having no one to call the January meeting to order and preside over officer elections. The person selected may be the 2020 board president (if that person will still be on the board), the most senior board member, or any other member of the board.
For further questions on the organizational meeting, please call OSBA’s legal hotline at (855) OSBA-LAW.