House Primary and Secondary Education Committee
The committee heard proponent testimony on Senate Bill (SB) 29, sponsored by Sen. Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City). The bill would make changes regarding education records and student data privacy. The committee accepted an amendment to the bill that would include devices and accounts provided by a school district to an individual student for the student's dedicated personal use in the definition of "school-issued device."

The committee heard proponent testimony on House Bill (HB) 440, sponsored by Reps. Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) and Beth Lear (R-Galena). This bill would make changes regarding the provision of remote services for special needs scholarship recipients and credentialed professionals who provide services under the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship. The committee accepted a substitute version of the bill that makes the following changes:

  • Makes the same list of providers is available to recipients of the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship and the Autism Scholarship.
  • Adds physical therapists to the list of providers.
  • Removes the requirement that a student’s IEP specify when services must be provided remotely and instead leaves the decision to the district, parents and providers. 

The committee heard proponent testimony on HB 445, sponsored by Reps. Al Cutrona (R-Canfield) and Gary Click (R-Vickery). The bill would require districts to allow for released time courses in religious instruction.

The committee heard sponsor testimony on HB 408 from Reps. Darnell Brewer (D-Cleveland) and Ismail Mohammed (D-Columbus). This bill would require public schools to provide a meal to any student who requests one. The bill also prohibits certain conduct by schools toward students who cannot pay for a meal or have meal debt.

The committee heard opponent testimony on HB 407 sponsored by Reps. Gayle Manning (R-North Ridgeville) and Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati). This bill would:

  • Establish new reporting requirements for chartered nonpublic schools that enroll students participating in a general scholarship program (either the Ed Choice Scholarship Program or the Cleveland Scholarship Program).
  • Require public money held by a chartered nonpublic school that enrolls general scholarship students to be accounted for separately from other funds.
  • Require the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) to issue a state report card for qualifying chartered nonpublic schools that enroll general scholarship students and to report other specified student performance and family adjusted gross income data.
  • Eliminate exceptions that permit general scholarship students to take alternative assessments instead of state assessments and qualify for a high school diploma based on alternative assessments.
  • Establish or modify reporting requirements regarding the Ed Choice Scholarship Program for chartered nonpublic schools and ODEW.
  • Require each public and chartered nonpublic school to maintain student disciplinary records and to transmit a transfer student’s disciplinary record with the student’s school records upon request of the student’s new school. 

The committee also heard sponsor testimony on HB 468 from Reps. Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland) and Sean Brennan (D-Parma). This bill would make the following changes regarding the presentation of information on patriotic organizations to students in public schools.

  • Permits federally recognized patriotic youth organizations to request a public school to allow representatives from the organization to provide written information or present information in person to students on school property.
  • Requires public schools to provide at least one opportunity per school year for a representative of an organization to provide information.
  • Requires public schools to request a criminal records check of the organization’s representative before permitting the representative to provide information to students. 

House Ways and Means Committee 
The committee held a hearing on HB 378, sponsored by Reps. Brian Lorenz (R-Powell) and Nick Santucci (R-Howland Township), and passed the bill out of committee. The bill would authorize a full homestead exemption for surviving spouses of members of the uniformed services killed in the line of duty. The committee accepted two amendments that would do the following:

  • Discontinue the exemption in the year after a surviving spouse remarries.
  • Discontinue the exemption if the surviving spouse is cohabitating with another unrelated person. 

The committee heard opponent testimony on HB 496, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hoops (R-Napoleon). The bill would revise the law governing property taxes and county auditors. No witnesses were present to testify. 

House Civil Justice Committee 
The committee heard HB 178, sponsored by Reps. Juanita Brent (D-Cleveland) and Jamie Callender (R-Concord). This bill would prohibit public schools and public preschools from discriminating against an individual because of traits associated with an individual’s race, including hair texture and protective hair styles, such as braids, locks and twists. The bill also allows an individual alleging a school has discriminated against the individual based on traits associated with the individual’s race to sue in any court having jurisdiction. The committee passed the bill.

The committee heard sponsor testimony on HB 557 from Rep. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon). This bill would permit schools to withhold directory information. The bill also removes directory information from the definition of public record.  

New Bills Introduced

  • HB 617, sponsored by Rep. Scott Wiggam (R-Wayne County), would protect individuals from being compelled to wear a mask or other facial covering in a public school, among other locations.
  • HB 623, sponsored by Reps. David Dobos (R-Columbus) and Don Jones (R-Freeport), would require school districts to offer at least one high school computer science course 

Rules Activity
The Department of Education and Workforce does not currently have any proposed rules open for public comment.

Posted by Nicole Piscitani on 6/7/2024