The Legal Ledger

OSBA’s legal assistance fund (LAF) supports school districts and political subdivisions that are defending legal challenges with the potential to affect public schools statewide. In one such LAF case, Buddenberg v. Weisdack, Slip Opinion No. 2020-Ohio-3832, the Ohio School Boards Association, Ohio Transit Risk Pool and County Risk Sharing Authority submitted a joint amicus brief on behalf of defendant-petitioners on December 3, 2018.  On July 29, 2020, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued its decision.

On July 20, the Ohio Controlling Board approved requests to appropriate $100 million additional CARES Act funding for K-12 schools. This funding comes from the Coronavirus Relief Fund of the CARES Act and is separate from the $440 million recently allocated from the Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief (ESSER) Fund.

The Ohio Departments of Health (ODH) and Education (ODE) have prepared guidance documents for school districts to use as they plan for the 2020-21 school year. One question that has been raised about the documents is whether school districts are required to implement the elements discussed or whether they are merely recommendations.

Earlier this afternoon, Gov. Mike DeWine announced the release of two guidelines for the re-opening of schools in the fall. One is health focused and the other is for school administrators. Staff of the OSBA division of legal services are reviewing the documents in detail and will provide more information soon.

Last Friday, OSBA hosted its annual Sports Law Workshop in a virtual format. Thanks to all of the school staff who attended the workshop and to all of the experts who shared their time and excellent information.

On Monday, June 15^th, the Supreme Court ruled that it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee because of their sexual orientation or gender identit

Last Wednesday, at our weekly townhall meeting

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) has announced a new program called Protecting Ohio’s Workforce – We’ve Got You Covered. BWC’s program is providing face coverings free of charge to public employers who are in good standing and report payroll to BWC.

On May 19^th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its” interim guidance on how schools and other establishments can safely open during the COVID-19 pandemic.

            In an opinion issued on Wednesday, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled against Youngstown City School District Board of Education (board) in its suit against the State of Ohio, which claimed that the passage of Ohio House Bill (HB) 7