by Hollie Reedy | May 3, 2016 | Construction & Real Estate, General
The Ohio Board of Building Standards has finalized the door barricade device rules mandated by HB 64. Found in the Ohio Building Code, the rules address active shooter drills, emergency situations, and establishes conditions for the use of the temporary locking devices. The rules are effective as of April 18, 2016.
Generally, the building code requires door handles to be accessible, meaning they should not require tight grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrist to operate. The new rules provide an exception to the building code for temporary locking devices. Doors also must require only one motion to unlatch a door, but an exception has been built into the code for barricade devices. The devices may not be permanently mounted to the door. Individual parts of the device, such as bolts, stops, brackets, pins, etc. that don’t prevent ingress or egress through the door may be mounted permanently. If they affect the fire rating of a rated fire door assembly, they may not be permanently mounted.
To use the devices in compliance with the new code, the school district must have:
1. Adopted and filed a school safety plan.
2. The barricade devices may be used only in an emergency or during active shooter drills.
3. Only a trained member of the school staff may use the devices for a finite period of time, as determined by the school administrative authority according to the school safety plan.
4. The district must provide training to school staff on the temporary locking device, keep records of the training, and provide those records to the fire official upon request.
5. The district must provide proof to the building official that the fire and police officials with jurisdiction over the school building have been notified about the placement of the temporary locking devices.
6. The building official will approve the devices upon compliance with all rules, and will note the same on the certificate of occupancy.
Operation of the barricade device may not require more than one operation to be removed after it has been engaged. Two operations are permitted to remove the device only if the building has an automatic sprinkler system throughout the building. The building code notes that the Americans with Disabilities Act may affect the use and operation of temporary locking devices like door barricades, but states that this potential issue is outside the scope of the rules.
There are different vendors selling barricade devices, and not all of them may be compliant with the rules as outlined above. For example, the placement of the device (low, medium, or high on the door) or devices that require more than one motion to remove once engaged may be problematic. Carefully consider the requirements before selecting barricade devices for your schools: we suggest working with your local fire officials. Consult counsel for specific questions.
by Hollie Reedy | Mar 22, 2016 | Legislation
Parents and students around Ohio are complaining about what they see as an inequity involving college credit plus (CCP) courses. In February, a group of high school students testified in front of the General Assembly that they believed the CCP rule that treats all college courses as being comparable to AP courses is unfair, because it can lead to relatively easy college courses being weighted the same as AP, International Baccalaureate (IB) or honors classes for GPA purposes. For instance, a student could take an entry-level CCP science course and receive the same weighted GPA as a high school AP Physics class.
Recently, ODE held a webinar reminding districts that they must follow the law as described above; i.e. that all college courses must be comparable to AP courses- and not penalize a student for taking CCP courses. ODE claimed that CCP parents and students feel “discriminated against” because they are potentially losing out on scholarships if the classes they take are not weighted the same as AP, IB, or honors courses.
Representatives Mike Dovilla and Marlene Anielski recently sponsored House Bill 445, which proposes to correct the perceived inequities. The bill would require school districts to award weighted credit for CCP courses that the district determines are comparable to AP, IB or honors classes. This would help eliminate concerns that students are “padding” their GPA by taking entry-level CCP courses.
The bill addresses a concern about the difference between the number of hours spent in a college course as opposed to a high school course. For instance, a student taking a college course spends about 45 hours in the classroom compared to 120 hours in an AP high school class. The bill states that one high school credit is equal to four credit hours of a college course, or the equivalent if the college operates on a quarter schedule. Students attending public, non-public, community, STEM, and home instruction also would be permitted to participate in extracurricular activities while participating in CCP.
Taking a course on a college campus would be prohibited if a comparable class is being delivered through the CCP program in the school district. Clarification that textbooks and materials purchased for CCP belong to the entity that paid for them is part of the legislation. The bill currently is in the House Education Committee and has had its first hearing before the committee. We will continue to update clients as it moves through the legislative process. A link to the bill is available here: HB 445
by Hollie Reedy | Feb 9, 2016 | Special Education
On January 27, 2016, the Director of the Department of Medicaid and ODE’s Director of the Office for Exceptional Children hosted a webinar that detailed the Medicaid billing changes coming to school districts as a result of changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) made in 2012, but only recently being applied to Ohio’s Medicaid Schools Plan (MSP).
Previously, in an October 2015 letter, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that Ohio’s MSP is out of compliance with its own state plan and the federal regulations because claims lack an appropriate prescription or referral from a medical practitioner. CMS is the federal entity that provides states with federal funds for Medicaid services, including the MSP. CMS concluded that claims filed under the MSP that do not contain this requirement after August 1, 2016 (the deadline set in the letter for full compliance) will not be reimbursable by Medicaid.
The Ohio Department of Medicaid was working with CMS to obtain an exemption or waiver of the requirements of the ACA as it relates to the MSP, but was unable to do so. The result of this unsuccessful negotiation has significant implications for all schools that provide services to students with disabilities pursuant to an IEP and eligible for Medicaid claim reimbursement.
If the State of Ohio is not in compliance with the ACA requirements, CMS will begin deferring IEP claims and Ohio could lose federal financial participation for Medicare through CMS. In fact, the federal regulations that require a prescription for services are not new requirements. Federal regulations state that Ohio’s State Medicaid Plan must require, among other things, all providers to be enrolled as participating providers, and that all claims for payment for services contain the national provider identifier (NPI) of the physician or professional referring or ordering the services. The change in the federal regulations occurred in 2012; however, Ohio’s noncompliant practice and procedure did not come to the attention of CMS until October.
The specific services for which a prescription, referral or order will be required from a medical provider are audiology, speech/language pathology, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. The provider may order multiple services if those services are in the IEP: for example, speech pathology and audiology or a combination of any of the services that requires a prescription. ODE reiterated during the webcast that services in the IEP must be delivered and cannot be denied, changed or modified based on the ability/inability to submit claims for reimbursement to Medicaid for services through the MSP.
A “provider” was defined in the January 27th webcast conducted by the Department of Medicaid Services and ODE as; a physician (MD or DO) an advanced practice nurse (APN), or a physician assistant (PA). School nurses who are RNs or LPNs are ineligible to order, refer or prescribe for these services. School therapists with a national provider number may not prescribe, order or refer the services either. School therapists will, however, continue to evaluate and provide services to students with disabilities, and document services for Medicaid school reimbursement.
