Legislative Changes

Tax-free holiday

Two state agencies have recently prepared new resources for school districts: The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) updated its truancy and attendance guidance, and the Ohio History Connection (OHC) added resources for properly managing local government records.

Truancy and discipline resources

ODE proposes amendments to rules on licenses for substitutes and alternative resident educators

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) recently filed a set of rule amendments related to temporary licenses. In part, the changes proposed by ODE are based on legislative amendments and on feedback from school districts.  Among the key rule amendments are:

On May 31, Governor Kasich signed HB 299, which makes revisions to the Autism Scholarship program.  The bill makes two changes to the program.

1. It expands the categories of individuals who can apply for the Autism Scholarship.
2. It revises testing and graduation requirements for students in nonpublic schools, including those using state scholarships. 

Autism scholarship

State lawmakers have finalized an expedited process to hear complaints from citizens alleging they were wrongfully denied access to public records. The bill, Senate Bill (SB) 321, received unanimous votes in the Ohio House and Senate and is awaiting signature by the Governor.

In December, the General Assembly enacted the “ban the box” law, House Bill (H.B.) 56.  The bill creates R.C. 9.73, which prohibits public employers in Ohio from including any questions about a person’s criminal background on employment applications.  School districts should take steps now to ensure compliance with the law when it becomes effective on March 23, 2016. 

Among the many provisions impacting school districts in the biennium budget (HB 64) that took effect on September 29, 2015 was a significant change to the property disposal process for school districts. 

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has released an information sheet on testing dates for FY2016, adjusted for the changes required by the recent passage of the biennium budget.  The department has also issued a guidance document on safe harbor provisions designed to assist administrators in understanding the prov

We wanted to direct your attention to two new legal resources that can be used by school attorneys, board members, and the districts they serve.

On July 6, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published its much-anticipated proposed changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). These proposed regulations are the response to President Obama’s March 2014 directive to the Secretary of Labor to “update and modernize” the overtime exemption rules under the FLSA. If adopted, the changes will have a significant impact on employers’ abilities to treat certain employees as exempt from receiving overtime compensation.

Current regulations