O.R.C. Section 2950.035: Unlawful work with or supervision of minors
Districts routinely rely on volunteer community members to help run games, and scoreboards, substitute in for missing referees, and operate concession stands for school sporting events. Many of these individuals are not Board approved prior to such volunteer work and/or do not go through background checks like school employees. Under the changes from Senate Bill 16, schools may need to more closely scrutinize who they are allowing “onto the court.”
SB 16 went into effect on April 4th, 2023. Designed to address a previous loophole in Ohio law that placed no work restrictions on sex offenders who were no longer on parole, the amended bill declared that Tier II and III sex offenders are prohibited from volunteering with organizations that work extensively with minors, which includes schools and school events like sports competitions.
According to SB 16, no person who is in a restricted offender category shall, “commence service in a position as a volunteer with any person, group, or organization, in a capacity affording extensive contact with minor children.”
– “Capacity affording extensive contact with minor children” means any capacity in which a person would be working directly and in an unaccompanied setting with minor children on more than an incidental and occasional basis or would have supervision or disciplinary power over minor children.
– “Working directly and in an unaccompanied setting” includes, but is not limited to, providing goods or services to minors.
Although it’s unclear under the act if a single, spontaneous provision of assistance is enough to be considered “more than an incidental and occasional basis,” State Representative Al Cutrona, one of the architects behind the SB 16 amendment efforts, explicitly argued that the bill was designed to prevent these kinds of interactions from taking place through team sports. Representative Cutrona stated specifically: “Whether it’s volunteering through team sports or going on retreats, this will prevent it, the bill most importantly has teeth behind it.”
What this means for your district:
Although school districts are not subject to liability under the statute, actively seeking to comply with SB 16 is in a school district’s best interest. Coaches should avoid seeking spontaneous crowd assistance as much as possible. Screening volunteers and keeping up with background checks are important to keep students and staff safe and could help the district avoid some unnecessary headaches in the future.