Employee Vaccinated Religion Exemption Requests
As vaccine mandates for employees become more common, employers are seeing a spike in religious exemption requests. While some employees may have a legitimate medical reason for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, under Title VII employers must accommodate an employee’s...
The New Payment in Lieu of Transportation Process
There were a number of key changes to transportation laws enacted in the biennium budget, including changes to the payment in lieu (PIL) of transportation process. The changes became effective on September 30, 2021.
TikTok Challenges on the Rise
Social media is a powerful tool often used to influence others - and not always for the good. Reports have surfaced across the country of school vandalism from students participating in the "devious lick" challenge circulating on TikTok. As if teachers didn't have...
Providing Public Records Requests from Your School Databases
A public records request was filed with Columbus City Schools (CCS) on December 29, 2020, seeking information about teacher absences and its substitute coverage. The request specifically asked for information for the school years ending in 2018, 2019, and 2020. On...
School Resource Officers – Are They Privy to Student Records?
School resource officers (SRO) play a vital role in ensuring that schools are safe and welcoming places where all students can learn. So how much information do they really need to know about school records of the children for which they serve? The answer may seem...
School Mask Mandate Updates – September
U.S. DOE’s Office for Civil Rights Enters the Fray by Initiating Discrimination Investigations Against States with Mask Prohibitions On Monday, August 30, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened investigations into five states that...
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Refuses to Enjoin a Mask Mandate Lacking a Religious Exemption
On August 23, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit weighed in on the constitutionality of mask mandates lacking a religious exemption. A Michigan school challenged the mandate in place by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, stating...
Are Teachers Breaking the Rules Recording Students on Their Personal Cell Phones in Class?
A complaint was recently filed with the Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) alleging a Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) violation when two teachers recorded students in the classroom on their personal cell phones. Students’ education records are...
Anonymous Reporting Systems Required for 2021-22 School Year in All Ohio Districts
Starting this year, school districts must either register with the Department of Public Safety’s free Safer Ohio School Tip Line or enter into an agreement with another anonymous reporting program selected by the district that allows individuals to report threats to...
School Mask Mandate Updates
U.S. DOE’s Office for Civil Rights Enters the Fray by Initiating Discrimination Investigations Against States with Mask Prohibitions On Monday, August 30, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened investigations into five states that...
Ability of School Employees to Carry Weapons Affected by Ohio Supreme Court Decision
The Gabbard decision was announced on June 23, 2021 by the Ohio Supreme Court. (Gabbard v. Madison Local Sch. Dist. Bd. Of Edn., Slip Op. No 2021-Ohio-2067) After a 2016 school shooting in the district in which a student emptied a gun in school injuring several...
Regulations help explain use of ESSER and GEER funds
ESSER/GEER guidance highlights In late May, The U.S. Department of Education released guidance to states and school districts about the use of the multiple federal funds authorized for pandemic response and relief. A review of this guidance clarifies some questions...
SCOTUS Affirms that Schools May Regulate Off Campus Speech – Sometimes…
In a lengthy decision, the Supreme Court of the United States found that a Pennsylvania High School overstepped when it suspended a student from the cheerleading squad for using social media to criticize her exclusion from a spot on the varsity team and a private...
Court Finds in Favor of Professor Who Refuses to Utilize Student’s Preferred Gender Pronouns
This case arose because a philosophy professor at Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, Ohio) refused to abide by the University’s policy requiring that he refer students with pronouns corresponding to their gender identity. The professor is a devout Christian whose...
School Funding Reform at the Center of Competing State Budget Plans
In early February, the Ohio House introduced HB 1. This bill, often referred to as the Cupp-Patterson Plan, proposes a significant overhaul of the State’s school funding system. Chief among its objectives is developing a per-pupil funding amount that reflects actual...
BWC Retaliation Case
Creveling v. Lakepark Industries, Inc., 2021-Ohio-764 The Sixth Appellate District Court of Appeals has rendered a decision denying an employee’s claims of workers’ compensation retaliation and disability discrimination, among some other related claims. The employee...
Pandemic relief bill Sub. HB 67
This won’t be the last of the pandemic response bills, but Sub. HB 67 recently was passed on a fast track through the Ohio House and Senate, sent to the Governor and signed by him on March 20, 2021. The bill has an emergency clause, so it is effective immediately. ...
Ohio Court Denies Temporary Restraining Order to Halt Return to In-Person Instruction
Earlier this month, a judge in Hamilton County sided with the Board of Education of the Cincinnati Public School District (“Board”) when she denied the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers’ (“Union”) motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction...
Can schools discipline students for offensive social media posts? The U.S. Supreme Court will decide in B.L. v. Mahanoy Area School District
Written by: Liz Hudson The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a First Amendment case about student social media use related to extracurricular activities. In June, 2020, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of a student...
Ohio Court Upholds Picketing at Homes and Places of Employment of Public Officials
The Ohio Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Appellate District recently addressed a dispute between the Portage County Educators Association for Developmental Disabilities-Unit B, OEA/NEA and the Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities. During a labor...
Decision in Favor of School District Against a Requester of Records
Bollinger v. River Valley Local School Dist., 2020-Ohio-6637 A Special Master of the Court of Claims of Ohio has issued a decision in favor of a school district against a requester of records. The requester was a former employee who was terminated after a...