The Legal Ledger

The biennial budget adopted by the Ohio General Assembly this summer became effective on Sept. 30.

In April 2024, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a new rule that sets technical requirements for school districts and other state and local governments to follow to make sure their websites and mobile apps are accessible to individuals with disabilities.

On Sept. 29, the First Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that will allow the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) to move forward with its reduction in force (RIF) of employees who worked in the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

In August, the US Department of Education (USDOE) rescinded a 2015 Dear Colleague letter that described how state and local education agencies could meet their obligations to serve children who are English learners. 

We are just a few weeks away from the November 4, 2025, election. As ballots are finalized and campaigns heat up, questions often arise about what school districts can and can’t do when it comes to different campaign activities.

Here in OSBA's legal division, we've been getting lots of questions about filling school board vacancies. In particular, we have been hearing from members who anticipate having vacancies in January because not enough candidates are running to fill the available seats. In this week’s Legal Ledger Sidebar, we talk about what boards need to know about filling those vacancies.

September is attendance awareness month in Ohio. In honor of the month, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) has issued new resources to support boards of education in their work to encourage regular school attendance. 

Each year, on Sept.

It’s an odd-numbered year, which means that school board positions will be on ballots across the state this November. As we head toward fall, OSBA is fielding questions from both first-time and experienced candidates. From organizing a campaign to record keeping and filing required reports, the legal division works to connect board candidates with available resources to help them run successfully. In this week’s Legal Ledger Sidebar, Scott Gerfen sits down with John Price and Jennie Hardin to talk about some basics for board candidates.  

While Ohio’s education community (and therefore we at the Legal Ledger) have been focused on dissecting the many school-related provisions of the budget bill, there have been some other significant updates in the past few weeks our readers should be aware of. Both federal and state actors have taken action that will affect schools and school leaders and may require some changes to ongoing practices.