The Legal Ledger

Within the past month, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced two resolution agreements regarding inadequacies of protections for students in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and thus provides protections for students facing sexual harassment. The law requires schools to introduce efforts to prevent or reduce harassment by other students, not just school officials or employees.

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) is rolling out guidance documents to help districts manage some of the changes in the 2024-25 biennial budget bill, House Bill (HB) 33. Here are some of the resources that have been issued to date:  

Online day plans 

Earlier this week, the Ohio Auditor of State (AOS) released an FAQ document on levy activity by public officials and employees.

It’s an election year for school boards of education. The last day to file a nominating petition as a board of education candidate for the November general election was August 9.

House Bill (HB) 33, Ohio’s budget bill, contains several provisions related to reading instruction and screening students with dyslexia. The changes significantly alter districts’ obligations to students in the area of reading instruction.

This week, the Legal Ledger is focusing on some student wellness issues in the 2024-25 Budget Bill, Ohio Am. Sub. House Bill 33 (HB 33). 

Under current law, school bus drivers and licensed educators in Ohio submit their fingerprints to the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) as part of a background check that is a condition of their initial employment or licensure. In addition to submitting to these background checks, these employees are also enrolled in a system called the Retained Applicant Fingerprint Database (RAPBACK).

As we have written in the Legal Ledger in recent weeks, Ohio’s Budget Bill HB 33 was signed by Gov. DeWine on July 3. This week, we will take a look at changes to a program that will have  significant implications for school districts: the expansion of the EdChoice Scholarship program into a universal school voucher program.

As the Legal Ledger noted in last week’s post, Am. Sub. House Bill 33 (HB 33), the biennial budget bill for fiscal years 2024-25, was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine on July 3.