To waive the minimum number of school days in the 2007-2008 school year for certain public schools permanently closed due to flood damage and to declare an emergency.

Section 1. A school district shall not be considered to have failed to comply with division (B) of section 3317.01 of the Revised Code or the state minimum standards during the 2007-2008 school year because a school was not open for the minimum number of days or hours required by section 3313.48 or 3313.481 of the Revised Code, if all of the following conditions apply:

(A) The school that was not open for the minimum number of days or hours experienced severe flood damage that caused the school to close permanently.

(B) The students enrolled in that school were reassigned to other schools operated by the district for the remainder of the school year and did not miss more than six days of instruction while the reassignments were arranged.

(C) The district made up the number of days specified in its contingency plan adopted under division (A) of section 3313.482 of the Revised Code in accordance with that plan for all the other schools of the district and complied with division (C) of that section to make up all remaining days or hours those schools were closed in excess of the number permitted by sections 3313.48, 3313.481, and 3317.01 of the Revised Code due to hazardous weather conditions.

Section 2. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is to ensure the uninterrupted payment of state funds to school districts forced to permanently close schools damaged by uncontrollable weather conditions. Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect.