130th Ohio General Assembly
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Sub. H. B. No. 115  As Reported by the House Education Committee
As Reported by the House Education Committee

126th General Assembly
Regular Session
2005-2006
Sub. H. B. No. 115


Representatives Setzer, Reinhard, Webster, Carano, C. Evans, Chandler 



A BILL
To amend sections 3301.075, 3313.843, and 3319.17 and to enact sections 3301.0713, 3312.01 to 3312.12, and 3313.845 of the Revised Code to establish the Educational Regional Service System and the EMIS Advisory Board.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3301.075, 3313.843, and 3319.17 be amended and sections 3301.0713, 3312.01, 3312.02, 3312.03, 3312.04, 3312.05, 3312.06, 3312.07, 3312.08, 3312.09, 3312.10, 3312.11, 3312.12, and 3313.845 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 3301.075.  The state board of education shall adopt rules governing the purchasing and leasing of data processing services and equipment for all local, exempted village, city, and joint vocational school districts and all educational service centers. Such rules shall include provisions for the establishment of an Ohio education computer network under procedures, guidelines, and specifications of the department of education.
The department shall administer funds appropriated for the Ohio education computer network to ensure its efficient and economical operation and shall approve no more than twenty-seven data acquisition sites to operate concurrently. Such sites shall be approved for funding in accordance with rules of the state board adopted under this section that shall provide for the superintendent of public instruction to require the membership of each data acquisition site to be composed of combinations of school districts and educational service centers having sufficient students to support an efficient, economical comprehensive program of computer services to member districts and educational service centers. However, no such rule shall prohibit a school district or educational service center from receiving computer services from any data acquisition site established under this section or from any other public or private vendor. Each data acquisition site shall be organized in accordance with section 3313.92 or Chapter 167. of the Revised Code.
The department of education may contract with an independent for profit or nonprofit entity to provide current and historical information on Ohio government through the Ohio education computer network to school district libraries operating in accordance with section 3375.14 of the Revised Code in order to assist school teachers in social studies course instruction and support student research projects. Any such contract shall be awarded in accordance with Chapter 125. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3301.0713.  (A) The education management information system advisory board is hereby established. The board shall make recommendations to the department of education for improving the operation of the education management information system established under section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code. Topics that may be addressed by the recommendations include the definitions used for the data maintained in the system, reporting deadlines, rules and guidelines for the operation of the system adopted by the state board of education pursuant to section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code, and any other issues raised by education personnel who work with the system.
(B) The board shall consist of the following members:
(1) Two members of the state board, appointed by the state board;
(2) One person appointed by the Ohio educational service center association;
(3) One person appointed by the buckeye association of school administrators;
(4) One person appointed by the Ohio association of school business officials;
(5) One person appointed by the Ohio association of EMIS professionals;
(6) One representative of four-year institutions of higher education, appointed by the Ohio board of regents;
(7) One representative of two-year institutions of higher education, appointed by the Ohio association of community colleges;
(8) Two representatives of the department, appointed by the superintendent of public instruction;
(9) Two persons appointed by the management council of the Ohio education computer network.
The chairpersons and ranking minority members of the education committees of the senate and house of representatives, or their designees, shall be ex officio, nonvoting members of the board.
(C) Members of the board initially appointed under division (B) of this section shall serve until January 1, 2008. Thereafter, terms of office shall be for two years, each term ending on the same day of the same month as did the term that it succeeds. Each member shall hold office from the date of appointment until the end of the term for which the member was appointed. Members may be reappointed.
(D) Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall hold office for the remainder of that term. Members shall receive no compensation for their services.
(E) The chairpersons of the education committees of the senate and house of representatives, or their designees, shall alternate annually as chairperson of the board. The board shall meet once every two months and at other times upon the call of the chairperson.
(F) If at any time the education management information system is replaced with a new system for collecting financial and student performance data for school districts and buildings, the board established by this section shall continue to function in the manner prescribed by this section in relation to the new data collection system after the new system is operational.
Sec. 3312.01.  The educational regional service system is hereby established. The system shall support state and regional education initiatives and efforts to improve school effectiveness and student achievement. Services, including special education and related services, shall be provided under the system to school districts, community schools established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, and chartered nonpublic schools.
The system shall consist of the following:
(A) The state regional alliance advisory board established under section 3312.11 of the Revised Code;
(B) The advisory councils and subcommittees established under sections 3312.03 and 3312.05 of the Revised Code;
(C) A fiscal agent for each of the regions as configured under section 3312.02 of the Revised Code;
(D) Educational service centers, data acquisition sites established under section 3301.075 of the Revised Code, and other regional education service providers.
Educational service centers shall provide the services that they are specifically required to provide by the Revised Code and may enter into agreements pursuant to section 3313.843, 3313.844, or 3313.845 of the Revised Code for the provision of other services. Any educational service center selected to be a fiscal agent for its region pursuant to section 3312.07 of the Revised Code shall continue to operate as an educational service center for the part of the region that comprises its territory. Data acquisition sites may enter into agreements for the provision of services pursuant to section 3312.10 of the Revised Code.
No school district, community school, or chartered nonpublic school shall be required to purchase services from an educational service center or data acquisition site in the region in which the district or school is located, except that a local school district shall receive any services required by the Revised Code to be provided by an educational service center to the local school districts in its territory from the educational service center in whose territory the district is located.
Sec. 3312.02.  There shall be the following sixteen regions in the educational regional service system:
(A) Region one shall consist of the territory contained in Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Lucas, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Van Wert, Williams, and Wood counties.
(B) Region two shall consist of the territory contained in Erie, Huron, Lorain, and Ottawa counties.
(C) Region three shall consist of the territory contained in Cuyahoga county.
(D) Region four shall consist of the territory contained in Geauga and Lake counties.
(E) Region five shall consist of the territory contained in Ashtabula, Mahoning, and Trumbull counties.
(F) Region six shall consist of the territory contained in Allen, Auglaize, Hardin, Logan, Mercer, and Shelby counties.
(G) Region seven shall consist of the territory contained in Crawford, Knox, Marion, Morrow, Richland, Seneca, and Wyandot counties.
(H) Region eight shall consist of the territory contained in Ashland, Columbiana, Holmes, Stark, and Wayne counties.
(I) Region nine shall consist of the territory contained in Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, and Preble counties.
(J) Region ten shall consist of the territory contained in Champaign, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Licking, Madison, Pickaway, and Union counties.
(K) Region eleven shall consist of the territory contained in Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, and Tuscarawas counties.
(L) Region twelve shall consist of the territory contained in Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren counties.
(M) Region thirteen shall consist of the territory contained in Brown, Clinton, Fayette, and Highland counties.
(N) Region fourteen shall consist of the territory contained in Adams, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, and Scioto counties.
(O) Region fifteen shall consist of the territory contained in Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Meigs, Perry, Vinton, and Washington counties.
(P) Region sixteen shall consist of the territory contained in Medina, Portage, and Summit counties.
If an educational service center has territory in more than one region as designated under this section, the service center and each local school district located in the service center's territory shall be considered to be part of the region in which the majority of the service center's territory is located and shall not be considered to be part of any other region. If a city or exempted village school district has territory in more than one region as designated under this section, the district shall be considered to be part of the region in which the majority of the district's territory is located and shall not be considered to be part of any other region.
Sec. 3312.03.  (A) Each region of the educational regional service system shall have an advisory council. Except as provided in division (F) of this section, each advisory council shall consist of the following members and the members appointed under division (B) of this section:
(1) The superintendent of each educational service center in the region;
(2) The director of the special education regional resource center in the region;
(3) The superintendent of the school district in the region with the smallest student population;
(4) The superintendent of the school district in the region with the largest student population;
(5) The director of each data acquisition site located in the region;
(6) One representative of a four-year institution of higher education located in the region, or in an adjacent region if there is no such institution, appointed by the Ohio board of regents;
(7) One representative of a two-year institution of higher education located in the region, or in an adjacent region if there is no such institution, appointed by the Ohio association of community colleges.
(B) The members of the advisory council listed in division (A) of this section, upon a majority vote, shall appoint the following members to serve on the council:
(1) One member of a board of education of a city school district in the region;
(2) One member of a board of education of an exempted village school district in the region;
(3) One member of a board of education of a local school district in the region;
(4) One representative of business;
(5) One employee of an education technology center. However, no education technology center shall have more than two employees serving on advisory councils at the same time.
(C) Each advisory council annually shall elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson from among its members.
(D) For two years after its initial meeting, each advisory council shall hold regular meetings at least monthly to conduct council business and may hold other meetings at the call of the chairperson. Subsequently, all meetings shall be called by the chairperson.
(E) Advisory council members shall receive no compensation for their services.
(F) Any advisory council may increase its membership beyond the members required by divisions (A) and (B) of this section by adopting a resolution specifying the number of additional members, their manner of appointment, and any eligibility criteria for appointment.
Sec. 3312.04.  The advisory council of each region of the educational regional service system shall do all of the following:
(A) Identify regional needs and priorities for educational services;
(B) Develop policies to coordinate the delivery of services to school districts, community schools, and chartered nonpublic schools in a manner that responds to regional needs and priorities;
(C) Make recommendations to the fiscal agent for the region regarding the expenditure of funds available to the region for implementation of state and regional education initiatives and school improvement efforts;
(D) Monitor implementation of state and regional education initiatives and school improvement efforts by educational service centers, data acquisition sites, and other regional service providers to ensure that the terms of the performance contracts entered into by the fiscal agent for the region under section 3312.08 of the Revised Code are being met;
(E) Establish an accountability system to evaluate the advisory council on its performance of the duties described in divisions (A) to (D) of this section.
Sec. 3312.05.  (A) The advisory council of each region of the educational regional service system shall establish the following specialized subcommittees of the council:
(1) A school improvement subcommittee, which shall include representatives of community schools and education personnel with expertise in the area of school improvement;
(2) An education technology subcommittee, which shall include classroom teachers or curriculum coordinators, parents, elementary and secondary school principals, representatives of chartered nonpublic schools, representatives of data acquisition sites, representatives of business, and representatives of two-year and four-year institutions of higher education;
(3) A professional development subcommittee, which shall include classroom teachers, principals, school district superintendents, curriculum coordinators, representatives of chartered nonpublic schools, and representatives of two-year and four-year institutions of higher education;
(4) A special education subcommittee, which shall consist of the members of the governing board of the special education regional resource center in the region;
(5) A data acquisition site subcommittee, which shall consist of the members of the governing authority of each data acquisition site located in the region.
(B) The advisory council shall appoint persons who reside or practice their occupations in the region to serve on the subcommittees established under divisions (A)(1) to (3) of this section. If the advisory council is unable to appoint such a person to a subcommittee, the council shall appoint a similarly situated person from an adjacent region.
(C) An advisory council may establish additional subcommittees as needed to address topics of interest to the council. Members of any additional subcommittee shall be appointed by the advisory council and shall include a diverse range of classroom teachers and other education personnel with expertise in the topic addressed by the subcommittee and representatives of individuals or groups with an interest in the topic.
(D) Any member of an advisory council may participate in the deliberations of any subcommittee established by the council.
Sec. 3312.06.  Each advisory council subcommittee established under section 3312.05 of the Revised Code shall make recommendations to the advisory council regarding the implementation of state and regional education initiatives and school improvement efforts in the subcommittee's area of specialization. The recommendations may include strategies to tailor state education initiatives to regional needs and priorities or to maximize funds available to the region for the provision of services in the subcommittee's area of specialization.
Sec. 3312.07. (A) Not later than July 1, 2006, the department of education shall select a school district or educational service center in each region of the educational regional service system to be the fiscal agent for the region. For this purpose, the department shall issue a request for proposals from districts and service centers interested in being a fiscal agent. The department shall select each fiscal agent based upon the following criteria:
(1) Capability to serve as a fiscal agent as demonstrated by a satisfactory audit record and prior experience serving as a fiscal agent;
(2) Adequate capacity in terms of facilities, personnel, and other relevant resources;
(3) Evidence that the school district's or educational service center's role as a fiscal agent would result in minimal disruption to its responsibilities as a district or service center;
(4) Demonstrated intent to limit the aggregate fees for administering a performance contract entered into under section 3312.08 of the Revised Code to not more than seven per cent of the value of the contract.
(B) If no school district or educational service center in a region responds to the request for proposals issued by the department, the department shall select a district or service center in the region that meets the criteria in division (A) of this section to be the fiscal agent for the region.
Sec. 3312.08.  Each fiscal agent selected by the department of education pursuant to section 3312.07 of the Revised Code shall do all of the following:
(A) Enter into performance contracts with the department in accordance with section 3312.09 of the Revised Code for the implementation of state and regional education initiatives and school improvement efforts;
(B) Receive federal and state funds, including federal funds for the provision of special education and related services, as specified in the performance contracts, and disburse those funds to educational service centers, data acquisition sites, and other regional service providers;
(C) Implement any expenditure of funds recommended by the advisory council for the region pursuant to section 3312.04 of the Revised Code or required by the terms of any performance contract, unless there are insufficient funds available to the region to pay for the expenditure or the expenditure violates a provision of the Revised Code or rule of the state board of education regarding such expenditure;
(D) Exercise fiscal oversight of the implementation of state and regional education initiatives and school improvement efforts.
Sec. 3312.09.  Each performance contract entered into by the department of education and the fiscal agent of a region for implementation of a state or regional education initiative or school improvement effort shall include the following:
(A) A definition of the services to be provided to school districts, community schools, and chartered nonpublic schools in the region;
(B) Expected outcomes from the provision of the services defined in the contract;
(C) The method the department will use to evaluate whether the expected outcomes have been achieved;
(D) A requirement that the fiscal agent develop and implement a corrective action plan if the results of the evaluation are unsatisfactory;
(E) Data reporting requirements;
(F) The aggregate fees to be charged by the fiscal agent and any entity with which it subcontracts to cover personnel and program costs associated with administering the contract, which fees shall be subject to controlling board approval if in excess of four per cent of the value of the contract;
(G) A requirement that a member of the advisory council in the region be a member of the state regional alliance advisory board established under section 3312.11 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3312.10.  The board of education of a city, exempted village, or local school district or the governing authority of a community school may enter into an agreement, through the adoption of identical resolutions, with the governing authority of a data acquisition site, under which the data acquisition site will provide services to the school district or community school. Services provided under the agreement and the amount to be paid for such services shall be mutually agreed to by the parties to the agreement, and shall be specified in the agreement. Payment for services specified in the agreement shall be the sole responsibility of the board of education or community school governing authority and shall be made directly to the data acquisition site providing the services.
Sec. 3312.11.  (A) The state regional alliance advisory board is hereby created. The board shall consist of the following members:
(1) One member of the advisory council of each region of the educational regional service system, appointed by the council;
(2) One member of the state board of education, appointed by the state board;
(3) One representative of four-year institutions of higher education, appointed by the Ohio board of regents;
(4) One representative of two-year institutions of higher education, appointed by the Ohio association of community colleges;
(5) One representative of the department of education, appointed by the superintendent of public instruction;
(6) One representative of the governor, appointed by the governor;
(7) One classroom teacher, appointed jointly by the Ohio education association and the Ohio federation of teachers;
(8) One parent, appointed by the Ohio parent teacher association;
(9) One representative of business, appointed by the Ohio chamber of commerce;
(10) One representative of the buckeye association of school administrators, appointed by the association;
(11) One representative of the Ohio educational service center association, appointed by the association.
The superintendent of public instruction and the chairpersons and ranking minority members of the education committees of the senate and house of representatives, or their designees, shall be ex officio, nonvoting members of the board.
(B) All appointed members of the board shall serve at the pleasure of their appointing authorities.
(C) Members shall receive no compensation for their services.
(D) The superintendent of public instruction, or the superintendent's designee, shall be the chairperson of the board. For two years after its initial meeting, the board shall hold regular meetings at least monthly to conduct board business and may hold other meetings at the call of the chairperson. Subsequently, meetings shall be held at the call of the chairperson or at the request of at least one-third of the board's members.
Sec. 3312.12.  The state regional alliance advisory board shall do all of the following:
(A) Identify issues concerning the operation of the educational regional service system that may require action by the state board of education or the department of education;
(B) Promote communication and coordination among the state board, the department, fiscal agents, advisory councils, and users of the educational regional service system regarding issues affecting the operation of the system and statewide education initiatives;
(C) Make recommendations regarding quality standards for the delivery of services to school districts and schools through the educational regional service system. Copies of the recommendations shall be provided to the department and the advisory councils.
(D) Establish an accountability system to evaluate the board on its performance of the duties described in divisions (A) to (C) of this section.
Sec. 3313.843.  (A) Notwithstanding division (D) of section 3311.52 of the Revised Code, this section does not apply to either of the following:
(1) Any cooperative education school district;
(2) Any city or exempted village school district with a total student count of thirteen thousand or more determined pursuant to section 3317.03 of the Revised Code that has not entered into one or more agreements pursuant to this section prior to July 1, 1993, unless the district's total student count did not exceed thirteen thousand at the time it entered into an initial agreement under this section.
(B) The board of education of a city or exempted village school district and the governing board of an educational service center with territory in a county in which the city or exempted village school district also has territory may enter into an agreement, through adoption of identical resolutions, under which the educational service center governing board will provide services to the city or exempted village school district.
Services provided under the agreement shall be specified in the agreement, and may include any one or a combination of the following: supervisory teachers; in-service and continuing education programs for city or exempted village school district personnel; curriculum services as provided to the local school districts under the supervision of the service center governing board; research and development programs; academic instruction for which the governing board employs teachers pursuant to section 3319.02 of the Revised Code; and assistance in the provision of special accommodations and classes for handicapped students. Services included in the agreement shall be provided to the city or exempted village district in the same manner they are provided to local school districts under the governing board's supervision, unless otherwise specified in the agreement. The city or exempted village board of education shall reimburse the educational service center governing board pursuant to section 3317.11 of the Revised Code.
(C)(1) If an educational service center received funding under division (B) of former section 3317.11 or division (F) of section 3317.11 of the Revised Code for an agreement under this section involving a city school district whose total student count was less than thirteen thousand, the service center may continue to receive funding under that division for such an agreement in any subsequent year if the city district's total student count exceeds thirteen thousand. However, only the first thirteen thousand pupils in the formula ADM of such district shall be included in determining the amount of the per pupil subsidy the service center shall receive under division (F) of section 3317.11 of the Revised Code.
(2) If, prior to July 1, 1998, an educational service center received funding under division (B) of former section 3317.11 of the Revised Code for a period of at least three years, for a good faith agreement under this section involving a city school district with no territory in the county in which the educational service center has territory, that educational service center and that city school district may enter into an agreement under this section, and the service center shall receive funding under division (F) of section 3317.11 of the Revised Code for any such agreement, notwithstanding the territorial boundaries of the service center and the city school district.
(D) Any agreement entered into pursuant to this section shall be valid only if a copy is filed with the department of education by the first day of the school year for which the agreement is in effect.
Sec. 3313.845.  The board of education of a city, exempted village, or local school district and the governing board of an educational service center may enter into an agreement, through adoption of identical resolutions, under which the educational service center will provide services to the school district. Services provided under the agreement and the amount to be paid for such services shall be mutually agreed to by the district board of education and the service center governing board, and shall be specified in the agreement. Payment for services specified in the agreement shall be made pursuant to division (D) of section 3317.11 of the Revised Code and shall not include any deduction under division (B), (C), or (F) of that section. Any agreement entered into pursuant to this section shall be valid only if a copy is filed with the department of education by the first day of the school year for which the agreement is in effect.
The authority granted under this section to the boards of education of city and exempted village school districts is in addition to the authority granted to such boards under section 3313.843 of the Revised Code. No city or exempted village district that is eligible to receive services from an educational service center under section 3313.843 of the Revised Code may receive any of the services described in division (B) of that section pursuant to an agreement entered into with an educational service center under this section.
If a local school district enters into an agreement with an educational service center under this section and the district is not located within the territory of the service center, the agreement shall not require the district to receive any supervisory services described in division (B) of section 3317.11 of the Revised Code from the service center. The supervisory services described in that section shall be provided to the district by the educational service center of the territory in which the district is located.
Sec. 3319.17.  (A) As used in this section, "interdistrict contract" means any contract or agreement entered into by an educational service center governing board and another board or other public entity pursuant to section 3313.17, 3313.841, 3313.842, 3313.843, 3313.844, 3313.845, 3313.91, or 3323.08 of the Revised Code, including any such contract or agreement for the provision of services funded under division (L) of section 3317.024 of the Revised Code or provided in any unit approved under section 3317.05 of the Revised Code.
(B) When, for any of the following reasons that apply to any city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school district or any educational service center, the board decides that it will be necessary to reduce the number of teachers it employs, it may make a reasonable reduction:
(1) In the case of any district or service center, return to duty of regular teachers after leaves of absence including leaves provided pursuant to division (B) of section 3314.10 of the Revised Code, suspension of schools, or territorial changes affecting the district or center;
(2) In the case of any city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school district, decreased enrollment of pupils in the district;
(3) In the case of any governing board of a service center providing any particular service directly to pupils pursuant to one or more interdistrict contracts requiring such service, reduction in the total number of pupils the governing board is required to provide with the service under all interdistrict contracts as a result of the termination or nonrenewal of one or more of these interdistrict contracts;
(4) In the case of any governing board providing any particular service that it does not provide directly to pupils pursuant to one or more interdistrict contracts requiring such service, reduction in the total level of the service the governing board is required to provide under all interdistrict contracts as a result of the termination or nonrenewal of one or more of these interdistrict contracts.
(C) In making any such reduction, any city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school board shall proceed to suspend contracts in accordance with the recommendation of the superintendent of schools who shall, within each teaching field affected, give preference to teachers on continuing contracts and to teachers who have greater seniority. In making any such reduction, any governing board of a service center shall proceed to suspend contracts in accordance with the recommendation of the superintendent who shall, within each teaching field or service area affected, give preference to teachers on continuing contracts and to teachers who have greater seniority.
The teachers whose continuing contracts are suspended by any board pursuant to this section shall have the right of restoration to continuing service status by that board in the order of seniority of service in the district if and when teaching positions become vacant or are created for which any of such teachers are or become qualified.
Section 2. That existing sections 3301.075, 3313.843, and 3319.17 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. Subject to appropriations of the General Assembly, funding for the operation of the Educational Regional Service System established by this act shall begin July 1, 2006.
Section 4.  (A) The Ohio Board of Regents and the Ohio Association of Community Colleges shall make appointments to the advisory councils established under section 3312.03 of the Revised Code within thirty days after the effective date of this section. Each advisory council shall make the appointments required by division (B) of that section within forty-five days after the effective date of this section.
(B) Each advisory council shall make the appointments to the advisory council subcommittees required by division (B) of section 3312.05 of the Revised Code within sixty days after the effective date of this section.
(C) Appointments to the State Regional Alliance Advisory Board established by section 3312.11 of the Revised Code shall be made within sixty days after the effective date of this section.
(D) Appointments to the Education Management Information System Advisory Board established by section 3301.0713 of the Revised Code shall be made within thirty days after the effective date of this section.
Section 5. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Department of Education not fill staff positions in the regional offices of the Department's Office of Early Childhood Education as those positions become open through attrition.
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