•131st Ohio General Assembly:  The Ohio House and Senate are on spring break until April 14, 2015. Committee meetings will begin again on April 16th.

•Update on the House Finance Committee:  The House Finance Committee, chaired by Representative Smith, completed public hearings last week on HB64 (Smith) Biennial Budget for FY16-17.  The chairman expects to use the next two weeks to consider amendments and develop a substitute bill, which is expected to be introduced the week of April 14, 2015.  House Finance committee members have discussed changing Governor Kasich’s school funding proposal to adjust for the way the Current Agricultural Use Valuations (CAUVs) affect the school funding formula for lower wealth rural school districts.  Lawmakers are also expected to make changes in proposed tax cuts and increases in the sales tax, CAT tax, and severance tax on oil and gas production.

•Senate Advisory Committee on Testing:  Hannah News reports that the Senate Advisory Committee on Testing, chaired by Senator Lehner, met on March 25, 2015 to review the results of a survey of educators, principals, and superintendents about testing in Ohio.  According to Matt Williams, who is facilitating the work of the committee, over 17,000 surveys have already been returned completed.  Most of the respondents reported having some problems with testing this year.  The committee is also discussing the purpose of testing, and will develop questions to present to representatives of PARCC, Pearson and AIR at an April 15, 2015 meeting.  The committee has created a web site to collect public feedback about testing at http://sact.ohiosenate.gov.

•ODE Issues Guidance on 2014-15 Safe Harbor Provisions:  The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released on March 24, 2015 information about the impact of changes in recent laws regarding accountability and consequences for the 2014-15 school year.

Some of the changes provide a “safe harbor” as Ohio’s schools transition to new assessments based on the Common Core State Standards.  These provisions, approved in 130-HB487 (Brenner) and 131-HB7 (Buchy), waive some of the accountability measures, such as issuing an overall composite letter grade and component grades on the state report cards for schools, and certain consequences for schools, students, and teachers.

See http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Data/News/Department-issues-guidance-on-Safe-Harbor-for-2014.

•House and Senate Approve Budgets:  Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate adopted 2016 budgets last week along party lines, setting the stage for the Republican majority in both houses to negotiate a final spending plan by an April 15, 2015 deadline.  The final budget would be used to guide the development of appropriations measures for government agencies and departments for FY2016, which starts on October 1, 2015, including allocations for the Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

With Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, most of the budget negotiations focused last week on how much to cut entitlement programs and how much to boost defense spending without raising taxes and exceeding the strict spending caps (sequestration) approved in 2011.  Both the House and Senate budgets total over $3 trillion, and eliminate government deficits in 10 years by cutting domestic programs, but provide few details about how to accomplish that. The Senate budget would cut $236 billion and the House budget $759 billion from nondefense agencies.

If the Republican majority in both chambers can work-out a budget compromise by the April deadline, it will be the first time that Congress has adopted a budget since 2006.  It would also set-up a parliamentary process called “reconciliation” which would enable the Senate to approve legislation without worrying about a Democratic filibuster.  Senate Republicans want to use this procedure to repeal the Affordable Care Act and enact tax reform legislation, but to do so Republicans would also have to overcome a presidential veto threat.

See “House Republicans Propose Budget with Deep Cuts” by Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, March 17, 2015 at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/us/politics/house-republican-budget-overhauls-medicare-and-repeals-the-health-law.html?_r=0

See “Senate passes budget as negotiations with House loom ahead” by Seung Min Kim and Rachael Bade, Politico, March 27, 2015 at http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/senate-budget-vote-gop-116419.html#ixzz3VmgVr7NZ

•Update on Student Privacy Bill:  Politico’s Morning Education reported on March 23, 2015 that student privacy experts are already questioning a bipartisan bill entitled the Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act of 2015 introduced in the U.S. House last week, and its ability to protect students from educational technology companies and online data mining.

The bipartisan bill is sponsored by Representatives Luke Messer (R) and Jared Polis (D), and has been developed in collaboration with the White House. The bill aims to tighten-up the data industry’s ability to collect and sell to vendors personal information about students when they use online textbooks, tutorials, games, quizzes, or conduct research at school and at home.  The information collected is not part of a student’s “official record”, and therefore not protected under the 1974 Student Privacy Act.  According to the article, the educational technology industry earned nearly $8 billion last year by collecting and selling this “unofficial” data.

The bill is an effort to fulfill President Obama’s commitment to hold the educational technology companies to standards that would guarantee that data collected about students would be used only for educational purposes. But the article says, “The bill lets education technology companies continue to collect huge amounts of intimate information on students, compile it into profiles of their aptitudes and attitudes — and then mine that data for commercial gain. It permits the companies to sell personal information about students to colleges and employers, and potentially to military recruiters as well.”

Opponents of the draft bill include the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy. They want parents to have the right to “opt” their children out of any type of commercial data collection.

See “Privacy bill wouldn’t stop data mining of kids” by Stephanie Simon, Politico, March 23, 2015 at http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/privacy-bill-wouldnt-stop-data-mining-of-kids-116299.html

3)  Update on Senate Bill 3:  The Ohio Senate approved SB3 (Hite/Faber) mainly on party lines on March 25, 2015.  The bill includes a mixture of provisions about limiting testing, deregulation for high performing school districts, and teacher evaluations.

Most Democrats opposed two provisions that permit boards of education of certain high performing school districts to employ individuals who do not meet state teacher licensing standards, although one of the provisions was amended to say that teachers must be licensed to teach in the subject area, but not necessarily for a particular grade level.  The Senate Education Committee also removed the term “high performing” from the bill, but maintained the criteria.

The following is a summary of SB3 as passed by the Senate.  New provisions added to the bill as “introduced” are labeled with a “*” .

•Section 3301.079 (D)(3) Diagnostic assessments:  Requires schools to continue to administer reading, writing, and math diagnostic assessments to kindergarten students, and reading assessments to students in grades one through three, but beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, eliminates the requirement that school districts administer the diagnostic assessments for grades one or two in writing and mathematics, or for grade three in writing.

•Section 3301.0711(B)(1)(a)(b) Reading assessments:  Removes the requirement that school districts administer the English language arts assessment to students in the third grade twice a year starting in the 2015-16 school year.

•NEW Section 3301.0728 Limits on Testing:  Requires that beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, school districts, community schools, STEM schools, and college preparatory board schools limit the cumulative amount of time spent on the administration of state assessments to 2 percent of the school year. The state assessments included in this limit are achievement assessments administered to students in grades three through eight, the end-of-course examinations required in high school under the College and Work Ready Assessment System, and any assessment required by the district or school to be administered district-wide or school-wide to all students in a specified area or grade level.

-Limits the cumulative amount of time used for taking practice or diagnostic assessments used to prepare for the state assessments described above to 1 percent of the school year.

*States that the time limitations do not apply to the following: administration of assessments to students with disabilities; any related diagnostic assessment for students who fail to attain a passing score on the third-grade English language arts achievement assessment; additional assessments administered to identify a student as gifted; the administration of substitute examinations for end-of- course examinations in American history, American government, and science;  Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate examinations.

-Authorizes a school district or school to exceed its prescribed assessment time limitations through the adoption of a resolution, but requires the district board or school governing authority to conduct at least one public hearing on the proposed resolution.

•Section 3302.02 Third Grade Reading: Prohibits the superintendent from establishing any performance indicator for passage of the third or fourth grade English language arts assessment given in the fall beginning in the 2015-16 school year. (Conforming language.)

•Section 3302.03 (b) Third Grade Reading:  Requires the cumulative totals from both the fall and spring administrations of the third grade English language arts achievement tests for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school year.

*Section 3302.034 Extra curricular activities. Eliminates the requirement that the state board of education report extra curricular services on the report card.

•Section 3302.13 Third Grade Reading:  Aligns this provision with changes in the administration of the third grade guarantee, including the development of an improvement plan for reading.

NEW Section 3302.16 (A) Exemptions for School Districts:  Allows school districts that qualify to be exempt from the following:

-The teacher qualification requirements under the third-grade reading guarantee. This exemption does not relieve a teacher from holding a valid Ohio license in a subject area and grade level determined appropriate by the board of education of that district. (License means the same as section 3319.31 of the Revised Code.)

-The mentoring component of the Ohio teacher residency program, so long as the district utilizes a local approach to train and support new teachers.

-Any provision of the Revised Code or rule or standard of the state board of education prescribing a minimum or maximum class size.

*Any provision of the Revised Code or rule or standard of the state board requiring teachers to be licensed specifically in the grade level in which they are teaching, except unless otherwise prescribed by federal law. This exemption does not relieve a teacher from holding a valid Ohio license in the subject area in which that teacher is teaching, and at least some grade level determined appropriate by the district board.

-Allows the superintendent of a school district that qualifies under division (D) of this section to employ an individual who is not licensed as required by sections 3319.22 to 3319.30 of the Revised Code, but who is otherwise qualified based on experience, to teach classes in the district. Requires the board of education of the school district to approve the individual’s employment and provide mentoring and professional development opportunities to that individual, as determined necessary by the board. As a condition of employment under this section, an individual shall be subject to a criminal records check and will be subject to Chapter 3307 of the Revised Code, which is the State Teachers Retirement System.

*Section 3302.16 (D) Criteria for Exemptions:  Requires a city, local, or exempted village school district to meet all of the following benchmarks on the most recent report card issued for that district under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code to qualify for an exemption from certain laws and rules:

-At least eighty-five percent of the total possible points for the performance index score

-A grade of an “A” for performance indicators met

-A four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate of at least ninety-three percent

-A five-year adjusted cohort graduation rate of at least ninety-five percent.

Section 3313.46 (A)  Threshold for Contracts:  Increases the threshold to fifty thousand dollars regarding certain requirements governing the bidding for contracts by the board of education of any school district, when any such board determines to build, repair, enlarge, improve, or demolish any school building,

*REMOVED:  Section 3313.72 Health Services: Allows the board of education of a city, exempted village, or local school district to enter into a contract with a health district, a hospital, an appropriately licensed health care professional, or an educational service center for the purpose of providing the services of a school physician, dentist, or nurse.

Section 3314.03, 3326.11, and 3328.24 Compliance: Requires community schools, stem schools and college preparatory schools to comply with Section 3301.0728 Limits on Testing.

*Section 3319.02 Principal evaluations:  States that beginning with evaluations conducted for the 2015-2016 school year, if the state board prescribes a framework for the evaluation of principals and assistant principals, student academic growth shall account for not more than thirty-five per cent of each evaluation.

*Section 3319.114 Alternative teacher evaluation:  Makes changes in the alternative teacher evaluation.  States that beginning with the 2015-16 school year the teacher performance measure, will account for fifty percent of each rating rather than 42.5 percent. The student academic growth measure will account for thirty-five per cent of each rating. The remainder of the evaluation can include one, or any combination of student surveys; teacher self-evaluations; peer review evaluations; student portfolios; any other components determined appropriate by the district board or school governing authority.

-States that the ODE shall compile a list of approved instruments that districts and schools may use, beginning with the 2014-2015 school year for teacher evaluations.

*Section 3319.223 Ohio Teacher Residency Program: Changes the requirements for the Ohio Teacher Residency Program.  States that if the state board of education prescribes an assessment for participants in the third or fourth year of the program, each school district or school may either: require each participant to pass the assessment to successfully complete the program; or during the third and fourth years of the program, assess each participant’s progression by using the participant’s annual evaluation.  Each evaluation shall be conducted by qualified individuals.  (Section 3319.111 (D))

*Section 3319.26  Alternative resident educator license:  (C) States that rules adopted under this section shall require applicants for the alternative resident educator license to satisfy certain conditions prior to issuance of the license, but they shall not require applicants to have completed a major or COURSEWORK in the subject area for which application is being made.

Section 5 (A) CFAP:  Requires the School Facilities Commission (SFC), by December 15, 2015, to develop and submit to the General Assembly a proposal regarding the Classroom Facilities Assistance Program (CFAP). The proposal should include legislative provisions under which school districts that have not received assistance under CFAP may, upon becoming eligible for assistance under the program, apply for and receive a portion of the state funds for which they are eligible, to be used for technology, building expansion, and physical alterations to improve school safety or security.

4)  Update on House Bill 2 – Charter School Reform:  The Ohio House approved on March 26, 2015 by a vote of 70-25 HB2 (Dovilla/Roegner), which includes several provisions that will change charter school law and increase accountability requirements for charter schools.  However, during the floor debate several Democrats suggested that the bill did not go far enough to ensure that charter schools operate in the public interest, rather than for profit makers, and are held accountable to tax payers.

The bill adds provisions that further clarify the roles of the ODE, sponsors, governing authorities, and operators.  The ODE will have the authority to oversee all sponsors; sponsors will have more requirements to meet to ensure charter school accountability; governing boards will have more responsibilities and requirements to meet; operators will be evaluated by the ODE; and there are more requirements to close loopholes about charter schools complying with the sunshine and ethics laws.

Not included in the bill are some provisions recommended by State Auditor David Yost, such as requiring charter schools to follow Governmental Accountability Standards for financial reporting and stricter truancy and student attendance laws, and repealing the authority of the ODE to sponsor charter schools.  The debate also continues between those who want to hold private operators accountable and responsive to the tax payers for spending public funds, verses those who believe that private companies should not be required to “open their books” to the public.  AND, still not included in the bill is a better way to fund charter schools, rather than as a deduction from traditional public school accounts.

The following is a summary of the bill as passed by the Ohio House.  New provisions that have been added to the bill “as introduced” are labeled with a “*”.

-Sections 3301.52 (O) and Section 4 Preschool Programs: Permits high-performing charter schools to operate a preschool program and permits exemplary sponsors to authorize a new charter school to operate a preschool program.

(H) (j) Requires that a preschool program operated by a charter school complies with current laws and minimum standards prescribed in rules.

States that dropout recovery charter schools are prohibited from operating a preschool program.

States that if the school operates a preschool program that is licensed by the ODE, admission to the school may be open to individuals younger than five years of age, but the school shall not receive funds for those individuals.

A similar provision is included in HB64 (Smith) Biennial Budget.

*Section 3302.03 Report Cards: Requires after July 1, 2015 that the ODE count the academic performance of students attending dropout recover conversion community schools on the sponsor’s school district report card, but states that only the scores of those students who would be assigned to the school district will be included.

*NEW Section 3313.131: States that no person who is a member of the governing authority of a community school established under Chapter 3314 of the Revised Code shall be a member of a board of education.

*Section 3314.011 Governing Authority Fiscal Officer: Requires that the fiscal officer of a charter school be employed by the governing authority, but permits a governing authority to annually waive the requirement by resolution with sponsor approval.  In the bill as introduced the governing authority was required to hire the fiscal officer without the exception. Requires the fiscal officer to meet with the governing authority annually.

*Section 3314.015 ODE oversight of community school sponsors: States that the ODE may add additional years to any renewal agreement, not to exceed a total of twelve years, if, on or after the effective date of this amendment, the sponsor is rated as “exemplary” under section 3314.016 of the Revised Code, and the sponsor continues to meet all the requirements of this chapter.

-Section 3314.016 (D)(1)ODE Rating Sponsors:  Allows the ODE to establish additional incentives  based upon a sponsor’s overall rating, to the incentives included in the bill.  Sponsors with an overall rating of “exemplary” may take advantage of the following incentives:

-The ability to extend the term of the contract between the sponsoring entity and the community school beyond the term described in the written agreement with the department;

-An exemption from the preliminary agreement and contract adoption and execution deadline requirements prescribed in division (D) of section 3314.02.

-An exemption from the automatic contract expiration requirement, should a new community school fail to open by the thirtieth day of September of the calendar year in which the community school contract is executed.

*NEW Section 3314.019 Auditor of State:  States that a community school’s sponsor shall be the party responsible for communicating and meeting with the auditor of state regarding an audit of the school or the condition of financial and enrollment records of the school, regardless of whether the sponsor has entered into an agreement with another entity to perform all or part of the sponsor’s oversight duties.

*Section 3314.02 (E) (5) Governing Authority Membership Requirements:  Removes the provision in the bill as introduced prohibiting a vendor from serving on the governing authority board. The bill now prohibits employees of school districts or educational service centers from serving on a governing board of a charter school sponsored by the district, but would permit a vendor of a school district or educational service center to serve on a charter school governing authority.

(6) Requires each member of the governing authority of a community school to annually file a disclosure statement with the names of any immediate relatives or business associates employed by any of the following within the previous three years: the sponsor or operator of that community school; a school district or educational service center that has contracted with that community school; a vendor that is currently engaged in business or has previously engaged in business with that community school.

(7) States that no person who is a member of a school district board of education shall serve on the governing authority of any community school.

-Section 3314.02 (E)(8) Sponsor Verify Findings for Recovery:  Requires sponsors to annually verify that a finding for recovery has not been issued by the auditor of state against any member of the governing authority of that community school.

-Section 3314.023  Sponsor Monitoring and Technical Assistance: Requires that when a representative of a sponsor meets monthly with the treasurer or governing authority, that copies of financial and enrollment records be furnished to the community school sponsor, members of the governing authority, and the fiscal officer.

States that if a community school closes or is permanently closed, the designated fiscal officer shall deliver all financial and enrollment records to the school’s sponsor within thirty days of the school’s closure. If the fiscal officer fails to provide the records in a timely manner, the sponsor has the right of action against the fiscal officer to compel delivery of all financial and enrollment records of the school.

-Section 3314.025 (A) Sponsor Expenditures: Requires that each sponsor of a community school shall annually submit a report describing the amount and type of expenditures made to provide oversight and technical assistance to each community school it sponsors.

Section 3314.025 (B) Requires the state board of education not later than ninety days after the effective date of this section, to establish requirements and a reporting procedure.

-Section 3314.026 Operator Replaces Governing Authority:  Repeals a statute that prescribes an appeal procedure in cases in which the governing authority has notified the operator of its intent to terminate or not renew the operator’s contract. This provision allowed the operator to replace the members of the governing authority in certain cases. Repeal of this provision is also included in HB64 (Smith) Biennial Budget.

-Section 3314.029 Office of School Sponsorship: Permits the ODE to establish the format and deadlines for applications to the ODE Office of School Sponsorship.

Permits the state board to establish additional criteria necessary for approval for sponsorship by ODE not later than December 31, 2015.

Permits an appeal of a denial of an application under divisions (A)(2)(a) and (b).  These provisions are similar to provisions in HB64 (Smith) Biennial Budget.

-Section 3314.029 (A)(5) Transformation Alliance School District:  States that if the ODE receives an application for direct authorization under this section for a school to be located in an alliance municipal school district, the transformation alliance of that district may offer a recommendation regarding that application. The ODE shall notify the transformation alliance of an application within fourteen days after receipt of the application.

-Section 3314.03 ODE Contract Between Sponsor and School (A)(4):  Includes all applicable report card measures as performance standards in the contract with the school.

*REMOVED Approve Financial Plan:   Clarifies that ODE shall approve financial plans of new charter schools, and that the plan shall stand as approved if ODE fails to make a decision within 14 days of submission.

-Section 3314.03 (A)(9) and NEW 3314.032 Contract with Sponsor – Facilities: Requires that the contract between the charter school governing authority and the sponsor include an addendum outlining the facilities to be used and their locations, and include the annual costs associated with leasing that are paid by or on behalf of the school, the annual mortgage principal and interest payments, the name of the lender or landlord and relationship with the operator.

-NEW Section 3314.03 Contract/Preschool Programs (A) (11) (j): States that if the school operates a preschool program that is licensed by the ODE, the school shall comply with sections 3301.50 to 3301.59 of the Revised Code, and the minimum standards for preschool programs prescribed in rules adopted by the state board under section 3301.53 of the Revised Code.

*NEW Section 3314.03 (A) (27) Contract/Records: Requires the school’s attendance and participation policies and records be available for public inspection.

-NEW Section 3314.03 (A) (28) Contract/Blended Learning Model:  States that if a school operates using the blended learning model, the school must supply the following information in the contract: an indication of what blended learning model or models will be used; a description of how student instructional needs will be determined and documented; the method to be used for determining competency, granting credit, and promoting students to a higher grade level; the school’s attendance requirements, including how the school will document participation in learning opportunities; a statement describing how student progress will be monitored; a statement describing how private student data will be protected; a description of the professional development activities that will be offered to teachers.

*Section 3314.03 (A) (29) Contract/Loans:  Requires that all moneys the school’s operator loans to the school, including facilities loans or cash flow assistance, must be accounted for, documented, and bear interest at a fair market rate.

*NEW Section 3314.03 (B) (5) Internal financial controls:  Requires the school to submit copies of all policies and procedures regarding internal financial controls adopted by the governing authority of the school.

-NEW Section 3314.031 (A)  SBE/ODE Records for Operators: Requires beginning December 31, 2015 that the ODE maintain an accurate record of the names and identifying information of all entities that have entered into a contract with the governing authority of a charter school to manage or operate that school.

-Section 3314.031 (A) (2) Contract:  Requires that the ODE receive from the governing authority of each charter school a copy of the contract between a governing authority and its operator.

-Section 3314.031 (B) SBE/ODE Performance of Operators: Requires the ODE not later than July 1, 2016, to develop and publish an annual performance report for all operators of charter schools in the state. The report will be made available on the department’s web site.

(C) Requires that the performance of management companies and organizations be reported and included in the annual charter school report required under 3314.015 (A)(4).

•NEW 3314.032 (A) Contract Operator Early Termination – Who Owns Facilities: Requires that on and after the effective date of this section, any new or renewed contract between the governing authority of a community school and an operator shall include the criteria to be used for early termination of the operator contract; requires notification procedures and a time line for early termination or non renewal of the operator contract; and a stipulation of which entity owns all community school facilities and property including, but not limited to, equipment, furniture, fixtures, instructional materials and supplies, computers, printers, and other digital devices purchased by the governing authority or operator.

*NEW 3314.032 (B)  Leases Fair Market Value:  States that the operator with which the governing authority of a community school contracts for services shall not lease any parcel of real property to that community school for an amount that exceeds the fair market rental value of that property by more than five per cent. For each lease of a parcel of real property that is entered into by the operator of a community school on or after the effective date of this section, the sponsor of the school shall verify that the lease does not exceed the fair market rental value of that property by more than five per cent.

*NEW Section 3314.034 ODE Approve Sponsor Contract Low Performing Schools: States that on and after December 31, 2015, any community school that has had more than one sponsor in the previous five years must first receive approval from the ODE before it may enter into a contract with a new sponsor, if the following apply:

(A) The community school has received a grade of “D” or “F” for the performance index score, and an overall grade of “D”or “F” for the value-added progress dimension or another measure of student academic progress if adopted by the state board, on the most recent report card issued for the school pursuant to that section.

(B) The community school is one in which a majority of the students are enrolled in a dropout prevention and recovery program, and it has received a rating of “does not meet standards” for the annual student growth measure and combined graduation rates on the most recent report card.

-Section 3314.035 Governing Authority Membership Posting: Requires the names of charter governing authority members to be posted on the school’s web site; and requires the names and addresses of governing authority members to be provided to sponsors and ODE.

–Section 3314.036 Governing Authority Independent Council: Requires that a charter school governing authority retain independent counsel for purposes of negotiating the contract with their sponsor and operator.

-Section 3314.037 Governing Authority Training: Requires governing authority members, administrative and supervisory staff of charter schools to receive annual training regarding public records and open meetings.

-Section 3314.038 Student Residence:  Requires each community school to annually submit to the ODE and auditor of state a report of each instance under which a student who is enrolled in the community school resides in a children’s residential center.

*Section 3314.039 Changing Sponsors:  States that beginning on the effective date of this section, no community school shall change sponsors within its first four years of operation, unless the ODE authorizes the school to do so.

Section 3314.06 Admissions procedures for preschools:  States that If the school operates a preschool program that is licensed by the ODE, admission to the school may be open to individuals younger than five years of age, but the school shall not receive funds under this chapter for those individuals.

-Section 3314.07 (3) Sponsor Non-renewal: Requires sponsors to notify schools by December 1, rather than February 1, of non renewal.

-Section 3314.074 (D) Consolidated Charter School Assets:  States that a charter school that engages in a merger or consolidation and becomes a single public benefit corporation will not be required to distribute assets provided that the governing authority of the charter school created by the merger or consolidation enters into a contract for sponsorship with an entity rated as “exemplary” by the ODE.  A similar provision is included in HB 64 (Smith) Biennial Budget.

-Section 3314.08 Funding for Preschool Programs for Community Schools:  Specifies the funding requirements for preschool programs for special education.

-Section 3314.19 (N) Sponsor Examines Blended Learning:  Requires sponsors to examine in detail charter schools that plan to use the blended learning model, and report certain information to the ODE.

•Section 3314.23 (C) Sponsor Monitor Internet or computer based school: Requires that the sponsor of each internet- or computer-based community school be responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with the online learning standards, and report a school’s failure to comply with these standards to the ODE.

-NEW Section 3314.46  Sponsor selling goods and services: Prohibits a sponsor from selling any goods or services to any charter school it sponsors. States that If the sponsor of a community school entered into a contract prior to the effective date of this section that involves the sale of goods or services to a community school it sponsors, the sponsor shall not be required to comply with this division until the expiration of the contract.

Section 3 Children with Disabilities. Requires the State Board of Education not later than December 31, 2015, to make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding performance standards for community schools in which a majority of the enrolled students are children with disabilities receiving special education, and if it is possible, to remove the exemption from permanent closure.

Section 4. Early Childhood Education:  States that for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, the ODE shall distribute funds appropriated for early childhood education in accordance with this section.

•SB 136 (Tavares) School Seclusion:  Prohibits the use of seclusion on students in public schools. Section 3319.46 ORC.

•HB130 (Hagen/Duffey) DataOhio Board:  Creates the DataOhio Board, to specify requirements for posting public records online; requires the Auditor of State to adopt rules regarding a uniform accounting system for public offices;  establishes an online catalog of public data at data.Ohio.gov; establishes the Local Government Information Exchange Grant Program, and makes an appropriation. Sections 149.43 and enacts sections 117.432, 149.60, 149.62, and 149.65 ORC.

•HB136 (Young/Rogers) STEM Pilot:  Funds the Lake County Educational Service Center pilot project to support STEM initiatives for middle school students and makes an appropriation.

•Talks Begin on NEA Funding for FY2016:  As the House and Senate negotiate an overall spending plan for our national government, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, chaired by Representative Ken Calvert, held a Public and Outside Witness Hearing on March 18, 2015 on appropriations levels overseen by the subcommittee.

According to Americans for the Arts three witnesses requested that the subcommittee increase support for the National Endowment for the Arts to $155 million.  This would be $9 million more than the current level of funding.

Testifying on behalf of the arts were Karen Hanan, Executive Director of the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA); Melia Tourangeau, President and CEO of the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera; and Anita Stewart, Executive & Artistic Director of Portland Stage in Portland, ME.

See http://www.americansforthearts.org/news-room/legislative-news/witnesses-on-capitol-hill-testify-for-nea-funding

The National Association of Music Merchants Foundation (NAMM) and the University of Kansas announced on March 18, 2015 the 388 school districts recognized as among the Best Communities for Music Education (BCME), and the 120 individual schools recognized with the Support Music Merit Award.

This is the 16th year for the NAMM program, which recognizes the efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders to make music part of the core curriculum.

The BCME program evaluates schools and districts based on funding, staffing of highly qualified teachers, commitment to standards, and access to music instruction. A comprehensive survey requests information that reveals statistical and factual information about music education and related opportunities for students to learn music. Researchers at the Center for Public Partnerships & Research, Kansas (an affiliate of the University of Kansas) led the data review.

The BCME designation has helped raise local awareness of quality music programs, and earning the designation has assisted communities in securing funds for music programs threatened by budget cuts.

According to the press release, “News of past winners being recognized nationally often leads to local media coverage, community recognition and even billboards trumpeting the local school music programs.”

The following school districts in Ohio are recipients of the BCME for 2015:

-Archbold Area Schools, Archbold, OH

-Avon Lake City School District, Avon Lake, OH

-Bay Village City School District, Bay Village, OH

-Beachwood City Schools, Beachwood, OH

-Bera City Schools, Bera, OH

-Boardman Local Schools, Boardman, OH

Clark-Shawnee Local School District, Springfield, OH

-Cuyahoga Heights Local School District, Cuyahoga Heights, OH

-Firelands Local Schools, Oberlin, OH

-Forest Hills School District, Cincinnati, OH

-Indian Hills Exempted Village School District, Cincinnati, OH

-Jackson City Schools, Jackson, OH

-Kettering City Schools, Kettering, OH

-Lebanon City Schools, Lebanon, OH

-Oberlin City Schools, Oberlin, OH

-Olmsted Falls City School District, Olmsted Falls, OH

-Perrysburg Exempted Village Schools, Perrysburg, OH

-Shaker Heights City School District, Shaker Heights, OH

-South Central Local Schools, Greenwich, OH

-Stow-Munroe Falls City School District, Stow, OH

-Strongsville City School District, Strongsville, OH

-Sycamore Community Schools, Cincinnati, OH

-Upper Sandusky Exempted Village School District, Upper Sandusky, OH

-West Branch Local School District, Beloit, OH

-Winton Woods City School District, Cincinnati, OH

-Wyoming City Schools, Cincinnati, OH

The following schools in Ohio are recipients of the 2015 SMME:

-Allen East High School, Harrod, OH

-Athens Middle School, Athens, OH

-Monclova Christian Academy, Monclova, OH

-Saint Albert the Great School, Dayton, OH

-Troy Christian Schools, Troy, OH

See “Where are the Best Community for Music Education?  2015 Best Community Designations” NAMM Press Release, March 18, 2015 at

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