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. Among other things, the new initiative will implement provisions to prohibit public schools from […]
Education Law Blog
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. Legislators and the governor approved language in last year’s budget bill which […]
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 Court of Appeals recently held that a truck driver was an independent contractor as opposed […]
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 Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to a student’s education and health records. FERPA generally prohibits […]
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 ex rel. Ames v. Brimfield Township Board of Trustees, […]
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. Halliburton, the District’s head football coach posted concerns on Facebook about the conditions he […]
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 gunman killed nine people and injured twenty-seven others in a mass shooting in Dayton. […]
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 was failing in its Constitutional obligation to ensure that there is a “thorough […]
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 administrative leave the day following his arrest. The Board adopted a resolution nine days […]