A little over a week has passed since the election, and the Ohio Senate has passed its first piece of legislation affecting Ohio schools. On Wednesday, November 13th the chamber voted to approve SB 104, also known as the “Protect All Students Act” along party lines.
Originally intended to amend the College Credit Plus program, SB 104 will allow students to apply by sending notice in November (rather than just April), allowing them to participate for the spring semester only. Students who apply in April can continue to participate for the full upcoming year without having to provide additional notice in November. Additionally, schools must host an orientation for each participant that complies with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) and higher education requirements. Language was later inserted into the act to prevent transgender individuals from using bathrooms aligned with their gender identities at Ohio schools and universities. Under the act, primary and secondary schools will be required to designate separate bathrooms and changing areas for “students of the male biological sex” or “students of the female biological sex.” However, family restrooms and single-occupancy facilities will still be permitted, and there are exceptions for people with disabilities and children under 10 who need assistance from a family member or guardian. SB 104 now awaits Governor DeWine’s signature, who has previously indicated that he would sign the bill after conducting a legal review.
As the lame duck session continues, we have highlighted several pieces of proposed legislation that could impact Ohio schools if they are passed in the near future. Proposals range from enrollment policies and course requirements to increases in teacher salary and permitted uses of sick leave.
- SB 208: Requires schools to open enrollment policies to accommodate military children.
- SB 293: Requires schools to excuse students for religious release time (schools currently permitted but not required to do so).
- SB 313: Requires schools to equip buildings and staff with a wearable panic device.
- HB 411: Proposes to increase minimum teacher salary to $50,000.
- HB 436: Authorizes aides and intervention specialists to provide remote instruction.
- HB 468: Requires a district to allow civic organizations to provide written information to students about their club and to give them one day a year to present to students provided the representatives pass a background check.
- HB 506: Requires each school that chooses to stock Naloxone/Narcan to develop a policy about obtaining and maintaining their supply of the drug.
- HB: 507: Provides protection and safe harbors for political subdivisions that implement cybersecurity measures.
- HB 520: Permits students to use club sports or other athletic activities to fulfill the high school PE requirement.
- HB 560: Requires school districts to reimburse teachers for the full cost of completing the number of graduate level credit hours or CEUS for implicit bias training, and ODEW will reimburse the districts for the cost.
- HB 571: Require schools to include national suicide and crisis hotline numbers on student IDs, planners, and electronic portals.
- HB 574: Allows a BOE employee to use sick leave for parental leave of absence.
- HB 585: Provides money to promote food options for students with religious dietary restrictions.
- HB 623: Requires districts to offer at least one high school computer science class that includes computer programming, and makes it a requirement for graduation (beginning in the 2026-2027 school year).
- HB 633: requires districts that run elementary schools to hand out an informational brochure to parents developed by the Department of Health regarding Type 1 diabetes.
- HB 657: Requires schools to make their pledge of allegiance policy public by posting on the school’s website.
As the lame duck session continues, lawmakers will be rushing to pass as many of the remaining bills that they can before the end of the year. There are hundreds of proposals that need to be considered, many of which have nothing to do with education, and it is possible that the bulk of the session will focus on other issues. Governor DeWine, for example, has listed the regulation or prohibition of delta-8 hemp as a top priority as bills addressing the issue have made little progress throughout the year. Ultimately, the lawmakers decide which bills will be prioritized, and any bill not passed by the end of the session will have to go through the entire hearing process again after the next General Assembly is sworn in.
What does this mean for your district? At the time this article was written, the only piece of legislation listed above that has been passed by both the Ohio House and Senate has been SB 104. The Act imposes facility requirements on all Ohio schools and amends the CCP program to include a second application window. There is no guarantee that the other proposals listed above will become law, but it is worth tracking their movement as the year ends considering the potential changes that may be required for the next school year.