​​​​​​Governor’s activity  

Governor Mike DeWine unveiled his executive budget proposal Monday, declaring his final investment priorities as a term-limited governor. Of particular interest to education advocates, the executive budget proposal:  

  • Funds the continued phase in of years 5 and 6 of the Fair School Funding (FSF) formula;  
  • Reduces the FSF formula guarantees to 95% in FY26 and 90% in FY27;  
  • Continues state investments in school choice programs at levels similar to the current ones;  
  • Dedicates $10 million over the biennium to the Ohio Principal Apprenticeship Program established in Senate Bill (SB) 168 of the 135th General Assembly;  
  • Earmarks $12 million in lottery funds for Science of Reading literacy coaches and requires schools with low rates of proficient readers to focus more funding on literacy supports; 
  • Invests $30 million over the biennium to create a new school bus safety grant program based on the recommendations of the Governor’s Ohio School Bus Safety Working Group, providing $4 million to increase the annual bus driver training requirement from four to six hours and widening access to advanced driver training; 
  • Invests $7 million in each fiscal year in competitive grants to support career planning and workforce readiness initiatives for K-12 students;  
  • Increases the Community School Facilities per pupil amount from $1,000 to $1,500; 
  • Creates the Driver Training in Schools Grant Program at the Department of Public Safety, funded by non-medical marijuana sales tax revenue, for school districts to fund driver’s education at their high schools;  
  • Continues the administration's work on school-based health, expanding the number of school-based health centers in high-need counties and providing resources and technical support to these health centers across the state, and; 
  • Invests $50 million over the biennium to create a new vision services program, OhioSEE, which would ensure that K-3 students who fail vision screenings receive comprehensive eye exams and glasses, if needed.  

The Legislative Service Commission will turn the executive budget proposal into budget bills, which the legislature will introduce next week. The committee reports below summarize the invited budget testimony from state agency directors that began this week based off the governor’s recommendations.  

House Education Committee 

The committee held an informal hearing on the recently introduced House Bill (HB) 43 sponsored by Reps. Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) and David Thomas (R-New Franklin). HB 43 would waive minimum instructional hours for Ashtabula Lakeside High School, due to extreme winter weather conditions this school year. Superintendent Lisa Newsome provided testimony on the district’s calamity day use and provided updates on the rebuilding of their high school roof, which collapsed during a snowstorm this winter. 

The committee also heard an informational presentation on Ohio’s state report cards from Department of Education and Workforce legislative liaison Jennifer Stump. 

House Finance Committee  

On Tuesday, the House Finance Committee kicked off its budget discussions with a three and a half hour informal hearing on the governor’s executive budget proposal. Director of the Ohio Office of Budget Management Kim Murnieks provided the committee with an in-depth overview of Governor DeWine’s executive requests and answered legislator questions on the administration's rationale behind various funding cuts, increases and new initiatives. Legislative Service Commission Director Wendy Zahn informed legislators about how the state forecasts its budget revenues for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.  

On Wednesday, the committee heard invited budget testimony from Director Maureen Corcoran from the Ohio Department of Medicaid, Director Kara Wente from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth and Director Matt Damschroder of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. 

On Thursday, the committee heard invited budget testimony from Director Steve Dackin from the Department of Education and Workforce. The committee also heard from Director Mikey Duffy from the Department of Higher Education, Keith Faber Ohio’s Auditor of State and Director Ann Chamber-Smith from the Department of Rehabilitations and Corrections.  

House Children and Human Services Committee  

This new House committee met for the first time this week, hearing informal briefings from Director Matt Damschroder of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Director LeeAnne Cornyn of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services on their agencies’ current initiatives.  

The committee also heard sponsor testimony on HB 7 from Reps. Andrea White (R-Kettering) and Sharon A. Ray (R-Wadsworth). HB 7 would make foster caregivers and kinship caregivers eligible for publicly funded child care, regardless of income.  

House Energy Committee 

The committee held sponsor testimony on HB 15, introduced by Rep. Roy Klopfenstein (R-Haviland). This bill makes changes to the competitive retail electric service law and makes changes regarding electric company property taxation. 

New bills introduced 

  • SB 66 – Sponsored by Sens. Sandra O’Brien (R-Ashtabula) and George Lang (R-West Chester), this bill would include emergency levies, substitute levies, all inside millage and school district income taxes in the calculation of a school district's effective millage floor. 
  • SB 68 – Sponsored by Sen. Mark Romanchuk (R-Ontario), this bill would establish a Nonchartered Educational Savings Program at ODEW and allocate $51 million to the program.  
  • SB 81 – Sponsored by Sen. Thomas F. Patton (R-Strongsville), this bill would authorize a property tax freeze for certain owner-occupied homes, including for senior individuals who are over sixty-five years old and senior owners of manufactured homes. 
  • HB 30 – Sponsored by Reps. Adam Mathews (R-Lebanon) and Brian Lampton (R-Beavercreek), this House companion bill to SB 3 would phase down the state income tax to a flat rate of 2.75% over two years.  
  • HB 40 – Sponsored by Reps. Tracy M. Richardson (R-Marysville) and Michael D. Dovilla (R-Berea), this bill would increase the enhanced homestead exemption for certain disabled veterans. 
  • HB 42 – Sponsored by Reps. Tex Fisher (R-Boardman) and Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.), this bill would require certain agencies, including schools, to report data concerning the citizenship or immigration status of persons with whom they come into contact.  
  • HB 43 – Sponsored by Reps. Fowler Aurthur and Thomas, this bill would waive required minimum instructional hours for Ashtabula Lakeside High School in light of weather damage that made their school building unusable for a significant time period.  
  • HB 57 – Sponsored by Reps. Dontavius Jarrells (D-Columbus) and Williams, this bill would require all types of school districts to obtain and maintain a supply of an overdose reversal drug for use in an emergency situation. It would also require the district's superintendent to adopt and implement a policy regarding the supply's maintenance and the drug's use at each school operated by the district. 
  • HB 61 – Sponsored by Reps. Thomas and Jack K. Daniels (R-New Franklin), this bill would modify the amount of the homestead exemption and owner-occupancy property tax credit. 
  • HB 62 – Sponsored by Reps. Justin Pizzulli (R-Scioto County) and Adam C. Bird (R-New Richmond), this bill makes changes to the College Credit Plus program, including requiring notice to school districts when a student drops a college course, transitioning to open-source textbooks and lowering the cost of certain online CCP courses.  

Rules activity  

The Department of Education and Workforce has the following proposed rules open for public comment at this time:  

  • Chapter 3301-11: Educational Choice Scholarship Program 
    • OAC 3301-11-01: Definitions. 
    • OAC 3301-11-03: List of designated buildings used in eligibility determination; assignment areas. 
    • OAC 3301-11-04: Eligibility for program participation. 
    • OAC 3301-11-05: Application for program participation. 
    • OAC 3301-11-07: Awarding scholarships. 
    • OAC 3301-11-08: Transfer of scholarship. 
    • OAC 3301-11-09: Termination of eligibility. 
    • OAC 3301-11-10: Payment of scholarship amounts. 
    • OAC 3301-11-11: Participation by chartered nonpublic schools. 
    • OAC 3301-11-12: Entities designated to file applications. 
    • OAC 3301-11-14: Dispute resolution. 
    • OAC 3301-11-15: Program administration. 

Click here to view the ODEW rules open for public comment. 

The State Board of Education does not have any rules open for public comment at this time.  

Federal update 

Please click here to read the most recent Federal Advocacy Report which includes up-to-date information on federal education efforts. 

OSBA OFCC Workgroup 

OSBA would like to collect member feedback on your district’s experiences with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission’s (OFCC) K-12 building programs. We want to hear about your experiences, understand what has worked for your districts and collect your ideas on improvements to the OFCC process that could be taken to the Ohio General Assembly. If you are interested in participating in this workgroup, please sign up using the form linked here.  

 

 

Posted by Malania Birney on 2/7/2025