by Nicole Piscitani • Aug. 23, 2024
In June, the Senate Education Committee incorporated Senate Bill (SB) 49, which proposed the Religious Expression Days (RED) Act, requiring that each K-12 public school adopt a policy providing students with religious accommodations, into House Bill (HB) 214. HB 214 originally addressed public school staff members’ professional duties.
SB 49 was introduced in February 2023 and received numerous hearings before unanimously passing out of the Senate in April 2023. The House Primary and Secondary Education Committee held three hearings on the bill in 2023, and Rep. Adam C. Bird (R-New Richmond), former chair of the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee, convened several interested party meetings.
In addition to SB 49, the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee had several bills in committee that impacted excused absences. Bird saw the possibility of using SB 49 to find a consensus on excused and unexcused absences and how they fit into the chronic absenteeism rate. Currently, the chronic absenteeism rate includes both excused and unexcused absences.
Meanwhile, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) was convening an attendance task force to provide recommendations on how schools can implement student supports to increase attendance and decrease chronic absenteeism. Bird wanted to be cognizant of its work and incorporate those solutions into SB 49. The attendance task force’s report was released in October 2023, and Bird reconvened interested parties to discuss the report and SB 49.
During the first six months of 2024, SB 49 appeared to be stalled in the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee. Days before the legislature’s summer recess, the Senate Education Committee inserted the Senate-passed version of SB 49 into HB 214. The provisions that Bird had inserted in SB 49 were not included. The Senate voted to approve HB 214 by a 24-7 vote, and the House voted to concur. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill on July 24, and the bill will be effective on Oct. 24, 2024.
The enacted bill addresses two education-related issues that school districts will be required to have policies on:
- a policy to accommodate students’ sincerely held religious beliefs;
- a policy on matters regarding specific beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles.
Policy to accommodate students’ sincerely held religious beliefs
The bill requires that a school district implement a policy allowing all K-12 students to be absent for up to three religious expression days each school year. The religious expression days can be used for holidays, reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or to participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination, church or other religious or spiritual organization. The policy must allow for alternative accommodations for students who miss exams or other academic requirements due to these absences if their parents or guardians give written notice to the principal within 14 school days of the first day of school or within 14 days of enrolling if the student starts later. The notice should specify up to three dates for which accommodations are requested. Additionally, the policy must permit students to participate in interscholastic athletics or other extracurricular activities on days during which the student is absent for a religious expression day. Lastly, the policy must be posted in a prominent location on the school district’s website and include contact information and a nonexhaustive list of major religious holidays, festivals and religious observations.
The bill outlines that a school is prohibited from the following as they pertain to the policy and the three religious expression days:
- imposing an academic penalty as a result of a student’s absence under the policy;
- considering absences under the policy in determining absence hours for the purpose of required parental notification due to unexcused student absences;
- unreasonably withholding or denying an excused absence for any religious holiday, festival or observation.
Policy on matters regarding specific beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles
School boards must adopt a policy by Jan. 22, 2025, that prohibits the district or school from the following:
- soliciting or requiring an employee or applicant for employment or academic admission to affirmatively ascribe to, or opine about, specific beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles concerning political movements or ideology;
- soliciting or requiring a student to affirmatively ascribe to specific beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles concerning political movements or ideology;
- using statements of commitment to specific beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principals concerning political movements or ideology as part of the evaluation criteria for employees, applicants for employment or employees seeking career progression or benefits;
- using statements of commitment to specific beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles concerning political movements or ideology as part of the academic evaluation of students.
A school district is also required to make publicly available all policies, guidance and training materials used for students, educators and staff on all matters regarding specific beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles concerning political movements or ideology. The bill expressly states that protected legal communications or guidance are not included in publicly available.
The legislature provided clarification on what is not prohibited, limited or restricted, including:
- a district’s or school’s authority to require a student or employee to comply with federal or state law, including anti-discrimination laws, or to take action against a student or employee for violation of federal or state law;
- an educator’s academic freedom;
- an educator’s ability to research or write publications about specific beliefs, affiliations, ideals or principles concerning political movements, ideology or social action;
- a district’s or school’s authority to consider an applicant for employment’s scholarship, teaching or subject matter expertise in the applicant’s given academic field;
- a district’s or school’s authority to offer an established character education program.