Doe v. Ohio Department of Education
The long-running Doe v. Ohio Department of Education litigation was back in the news earlier this month. The settlement became final and effective nearly three decades after the lawsuit was initially filed. Ennis Britton previously notified clients of the proposed...
COVID-19: FMLA Leave Expansion and Emergency Paid Sick Leave
Review the Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s provisions expanding FMLA leave and providing emergency paid sick leave and their applicability to Ohio school districts.
COVID-19 Update: Frequently Asked Questions
As we continue to receive updates and navigate the changing circumstances day-to-day, we would like to brief you about some of the questions we have been receiving from schools around the State: Can we continue to pay hourly staff members if on extended closure? R.C....
COVID-19 Update: Public and Student Records Requests During a Pandemic
Review guidance on the release of personally-identifiable student information to parents, students, the health department and the media during a health and safety emergency.
COVID-19 Update: What About Required 504 or IEP Meetings?
It should come to no one’s surprise that the state and federal laws do not allow for exceptions to the required timelines for ETRs, IEPs, etc. As discussed in other posts, in December 2009, in response to the H1N1 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education issued a...
COVID-19 Update: Maintaining School Operations During Pandemics
How long can the school district cancel school? Provisions of Ohio law govern how long a school year must be. A school year begins on July 1st of each year and ends on June 30th of the next year. R.C. 3313.48 provides that schools must be open for instruction for a...
COVID-19 Update: Services for Special Education Students
UPDATE (3/12/20 at 6:20 PM): At 6 PM on March 12 the US Department of Education released new guidance on special education and COVID-19 that is available here. In the past 48 hours it seems as if the already rapidly developing story of COVID-19, or novel coronavirus,...
COVID-19 Update: School Board Meetings During a Pandemic
UPDATED APRIL 1, 2020 On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared that COVID-19, a novel coronavirus, has become a pandemic. We anticipate that this virus will pose many challenges to school districts and communities in the coming weeks and...
National Initiative to Address Sexual Assault in Schools
Last week, U. S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced plans for a new compliance review and data collection initiative to address the rise in sexual assaults in K-12 education, this time targeting the actions of adult employees toward school students. ...
UPDATE – Legislators Grapple with EdChoice Program Expansion Amendments
Efforts to curb the impact of EdChoice accelerated towards the end of January as legislators in the Senate and House searched for ways to reduce the negative financial impact that the program is anticipated to have on Ohio’s public schools starting next year....
Unemployment Claims and “Independent Contractors”
Generally, employees in Ohio are eligible to receive unemployment benefits if they are laid off from their place of employment. However, under Ohio law, if you are an “independent contractor,” you are precluded from receiving those benefits. The Eleventh District...
New Guidance on Privacy for Student Education and Health Records
The U.S. Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently released updated guidance regarding the application of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Health Insurance...
Board Meeting Minutes – Specificity Needed
The Eleventh District Court of Appeals was recently faced with the issue of whether Ohio’s Open Meetings Act requires the meeting minutes of a public body to be accurate enough to show the specific reasons a Board has entered into executive session. In State of Ohio...
Facebook and First Amendment Rights
Like students, teachers do not shed their constitutional right to free speech while at school. However, their rights are not without limits as the Sixth Circuit demonstrated recently when it issued a ruling upholding termination of a teacher. In Sensabaugh v....
Records of Deceased Student and Mass Shooter Case Decided
Recently, in State ex. rel CNN, Inc. v. Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Local School Dist., 2019-Ohio-4187, the Second Appellate District ruled that the death of a student does not remove the legal protections of the confidentiality of student records. In August 2019, an adult...
Food Allergies and Special Education
Students with food allergies may be eligible for special education supports and protections. For instance, a student could be IDEA- eligible as “other health impaired” if the allergies adversely affect learning or the student needs special education/related services due to the allergies. More commonly, students with food allergies may be eligible for a 504 plan if they have a physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
Ohio’s School Funding System
A complaint challenging the constitutionality of Ohio’s school funding system was filed in the Perry County Court of Common Pleas in 1991. The plaintiffs alleged that vast disparities and shortfalls in per pupil funding, among other concerns, meant the State of Ohio...
District’s Termination of Superintendent Upheld
The Court of Appeals in Logan County, Ohio recently upheld a decision of the Indian Lake School District Board of Education terminating its superintendent after he was arrested for gross sexual imposition of a minor. The superintendent was placed on paid...
Court of Appeals Disagrees That a Student’s Right to Privacy Ends Upon Death
A dispute over the disclosure of student records has led to the Court of Appeals for Ohio’s Second Circuit to analyze whether a student’s right to privacy in education records extinguishes upon death. Both federal and state laws protect the confidentiality of student...
A Quick Note About Parental Leave
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers may not discriminate against employees on the basis of several protected classes, including sex. Thus, courts and administrative agencies have interpreted Title VII to prohibit an employer from engaging in...
Ennis Britton is Proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the OSBA Capital Conference!
Ennis Britton is proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the 2019 Ohio School Boards Association Capital Conference. This means you will see our team of attorneys and firm logo in a lot of places! The firm is the exclusive sponsor of the OSBA Conference App, which will be...