The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.
|
S. B. No. 9 As Reported by the Senate Education CommitteeAs Reported by the Senate Education Committee
129th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2011-2012 |
| |
Cosponsors:
Senators Bacon, Beagle, Cates, Grendell, Jones, Jordan, Patton, Schaffer, Seitz, Wagoner
A BILL
To amend sections 3306.01, 3321.01, and 3321.05 of
the Revised Code and to repeal Section 265.70.70
of Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the 128th General Assembly
and Section 9 of Sub. H.B. 318 of the 128th
General Assembly to eliminate the requirement that
school districts offer all-day kindergarten and to
allow public schools to continue charging tuition
for all-day kindergarten.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3306.01, 3321.01, and 3321.05 of the
Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3306.01. This chapter shall be administered by the
state board of education. The superintendent of public instruction
shall calculate the amounts payable to each school district and
shall certify the amounts payable to each eligible district to the
treasurer of the district as determined under this chapter. As
soon as possible after such amounts are calculated, the
superintendent shall certify to the treasurer of each school
district the district's adjusted charge-off increase, as defined
in section 5705.211 of the Revised Code. No moneys shall be
distributed pursuant to this chapter without the approval of the
controlling board.
The state board of education shall, in accordance with
appropriations made by the general assembly, meet the financial
obligations of this chapter.
Annually, the department of education shall calculate and
report to each school district the district's adequacy amount
utilizing the calculations in sections 3306.03 and 3306.13 of the
Revised Code. The department shall calculate and report separately
for each school district the district's total state and local
funds for its students with disabilities, utilizing the
calculations in sections 3306.05, 3306.11, and 3306.13 of the
Revised Code. The department shall calculate and report separately
for each school district the amount of funding calculated for each
factor of the district's adequacy amount.
Not later than the thirty-first day of August of each fiscal
year, the department of education shall provide to each school
district a preliminary estimate of the amount of funding that the
department calculates the district will receive under section
3306.13 of the Revised Code. Not later than the first day of
December of each fiscal year, the department shall update that
preliminary estimate.
Moneys distributed pursuant to this chapter shall be
calculated and paid on a fiscal year basis, beginning with the
first day of July and extending through the thirtieth day of June.
Unless otherwise provided, the moneys appropriated for each fiscal
year shall be distributed at least monthly to each school
district. The state board shall submit a yearly distribution plan
to the controlling board at its first meeting in July. The state
board shall submit any proposed midyear revision of the plan to
the controlling board in January. Any year-end revision of the
plan shall be submitted to the controlling board in June. If
moneys appropriated for each fiscal year are distributed other
than monthly, such distribution shall be on the same basis for
each school district.
The total amounts paid each month shall constitute, as nearly
as possible, one-twelfth of the total amount payable for the
entire year.
Payments shall be calculated to reflect the reporting of
formula ADM. Annualized periodic payments for each school district
shall be based on the district's final student counts verified by
the superintendent of public instruction based on reports under
section 3317.03 of the Revised Code, as adjusted, if so ordered,
under division (K) of that section.
(A) Except as otherwise provided, payments under this chapter
shall be made only to those school districts that comply with
divisions (A)(1) to (3) of this section.
(1) Each city, exempted village, and local school district
shall levy for current operating expenses at least twenty mills.
Levies for joint vocational or cooperative education school
districts or county school financing districts, limited to or to
the extent apportioned to current expenses, shall be included in
this qualification requirement. School district income tax levies
under Chapter 5748. of the Revised Code, limited to or to the
extent apportioned to current operating expenses, shall be
included in this qualification requirement to the extent
determined by the tax commissioner under division (D) of section
3317.021 of the Revised Code.
(2) Each city, exempted village, local, and joint vocational
school district, during the school year next preceding the fiscal
year for which payments are calculated under this chapter, shall
meet the requirement of section 3313.48 or 3313.481 of the Revised
Code, with regard to the minimum number of days or hours school
must be open for instruction with pupils in attendance, for
individualized parent-teacher conference and reporting periods,
and for professional meetings of teachers. The superintendent of
public instruction shall waive a number of days in accordance with
section 3317.01 of the Revised Code on which it had been necessary
for a school to be closed because of disease epidemic, hazardous
weather conditions, inoperability of school buses or other
equipment necessary to the school's operation, damage to a school
building, or other temporary circumstances due to utility failure
rendering the school building unfit for school use.
A school district shall not be considered to have failed to
comply with this division or section 3313.481 of the Revised Code
because schools were open for instruction but either twelfth grade
students were excused from attendance for up to three days or only
a portion of the kindergarten students were in attendance for up
to three days in order to allow for the gradual orientation to
school of such students.
The superintendent of public instruction shall waive the
requirements of this section with reference to the minimum number
of days or hours a school must be open for instruction with pupils
in attendance for the school year succeeding the school year in
which a board of education initiates a plan of operation pursuant
to section 3313.481 of the Revised Code. The minimum requirements
of this section shall again be applicable to the district
beginning with the school year commencing the second July
succeeding the initiation of the plan, and for each school year
thereafter.
A school district shall not be considered to have failed to
comply with this division or section 3313.48 or 3313.481 of the
Revised Code because schools were open for instruction but the
length of the regularly scheduled learning day, for any number of
days during the school year, was reduced by not more than two
hours due to hazardous weather conditions.
(3) Each city, exempted village, local, and joint vocational
school district shall have on file, and shall pay in accordance
with, a teachers' salary schedule which complies with section
3317.13 of the Revised Code.
(B) A school district board of education or educational
service center governing board that has not conformed with other
law, and the rules pursuant thereto, shall not participate in the
distribution of funds authorized by this chapter, except for good
and sufficient reason established to the satisfaction of the state
board of education and the state controlling board.
(C) All funds allocated to school districts under this
chapter, except those specifically allocated for other purposes,
shall be used only to pay current operating expenses or for either
of the following purposes:
(1) The modification or purchase of classroom space to
provide all-day kindergarten as required by section 3321.05 of the
Revised Code, provided the district certifies its shortage of
space for providing all-day kindergarten to the department of
education, in a manner specified by the department;
(2) The the modification or purchase of classroom space to
reduce class sizes in grades kindergarten through three to attain
the goal of fifteen students per core teacher, provided the
district certifies its need for additional classroom space to the
department, in a manner specified by the department.
(D) On or before the last day of each month, the department
of education shall certify to the director of budget and
management for payment, for each county:
(1)(a) That portion of the allocation of money under section
3306.13 of the Revised Code that is required to be paid in that
month to each school district located wholly within the county
subsequent to the deductions described in division (D)(1)(b) of
this section;
(b) The amounts deducted from such allocation under sections
3307.31 and 3309.51 of the Revised Code for payment directly to
the school employees and state teachers retirement systems under
such sections.
(2) If the district is located in more than one county, an
apportionment of the amounts that would otherwise be certified
under division (D)(1) of this section. The amounts apportioned to
the county shall equal the amounts certified under division (D)(1)
of this section times the percentage of the district's resident
pupils who reside both in the district and in the county, based on
the average daily membership reported under division (A) of
section 3317.03 of the Revised Code in October of the prior fiscal
year.
Sec. 3321.01. (A)(1) As used in this chapter, "parent,"
"guardian," or "other person having charge or care of a child"
means either parent unless the parents are separated or divorced
or their marriage has been dissolved or annulled, in which case
"parent" means the parent who is the residential parent and legal
custodian of the child. If the child is in the legal or permanent
custody of a person or government agency, "parent" means that
person or government agency. When a child is a resident of a home,
as defined in section 3313.64 of the Revised Code, and the child's
parent is not a resident of this state, "parent," "guardian," or
"other person having charge or care of a child" means the head of
the home.
A child between six and eighteen years of age is "of
compulsory school age" for the purpose of sections 3321.01 to
3321.13 of the Revised Code. A child under six years of age who
has been enrolled in kindergarten also shall be considered "of
compulsory school age" for the purpose of sections 3321.01 to
3321.13 of the Revised Code unless at any time the child's parent
or guardian, at the parent's or guardian's discretion and in
consultation with the child's teacher and principal, formally
withdraws the child from kindergarten. The compulsory school age
of a child shall not commence until the beginning of the term of
such schools, or other time in the school year fixed by the rules
of the board of the district in which the child resides.
(2) No child shall be admitted to a kindergarten or a first
grade of a public school in a district in which all children are
admitted to kindergarten and the first grade in August or
September unless the child is five or six years of age,
respectively, by the thirtieth day of September of the year of
admittance, or by the first day of a term or semester other than
one beginning in August or September in school districts granting
admittance at the beginning of such term or semester, except that
in those school districts using or obtaining educationally
accepted standardized testing programs for determining entrance,
as approved by the board of education of such districts, the board
shall admit a child to kindergarten or the first grade who fails
to meet the age requirement, provided the child meets necessary
standards as determined by such standardized testing programs. If
the board of education has not established a standardized testing
program, the board shall designate the necessary standards and a
testing program it will accept for the purpose of admitting a
child to kindergarten or first grade who fails to meet the age
requirement. Each child who will be the proper age for entrance to
kindergarten or first grade by the first day of January of the
school year for which admission is requested shall be so tested
upon the request of the child's parent.
(3) Notwithstanding divisions (A)(2) and (D) of this section,
beginning with the school year that starts in 2001 and continuing
thereafter the board of education of any district may adopt a
resolution establishing the first day of August in lieu of the
thirtieth day of September as the required date by which students
must have attained the age specified in those divisions.
(B) As used in divisions (C) and (D) of this section,
"successfully completed kindergarten" and "successful completion
of kindergarten" mean that the child has completed the
kindergarten requirements at one of the following:
(1) A public or chartered nonpublic school;
(2) A kindergarten class that is both of the following:
(a) Offered by a day-care provider licensed under Chapter
5104. of the Revised Code;
(b) If offered after July 1, 1991, is directly taught by a
teacher who holds one of the following:
(i) A valid educator license issued under section 3319.22 of
the Revised Code;
(ii) A Montessori preprimary credential or age-appropriate
diploma granted by the American Montessori society or the
association Montessori internationale;
(iii) Certification determined under division (G) of this
section to be equivalent to that described in division
(B)(2)(b)(ii) of this section;
(iv) Certification for teachers in nontax-supported schools
pursuant to section 3301.071 of the Revised Code.
(C) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, no
school district shall admit to the first grade any child who has
not successfully completed kindergarten.
(D) Upon request of a parent, the requirement of division (C)
of this section may be waived by the district's pupil personnel
services committee in the case of a child who is at least six
years of age by the thirtieth day of September of the year of
admittance and who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
committee the possession of the social, emotional, and cognitive
skills necessary for first grade.
The board of education of each city, local, and exempted
village school district shall establish a pupil personnel services
committee. The committee shall be composed of all of the following
to the extent such personnel are either employed by the district
or employed by the governing board of the educational service
center within whose territory the district is located and the
educational service center generally furnishes the services of
such personnel to the district:
(1) The director of pupil personnel services;
(2) An elementary school counselor;
(3) An elementary school principal;
(4) A school psychologist;
(5) A teacher assigned to teach first grade;
(6) A gifted coordinator.
The responsibilities of the pupil personnel services
committee shall be limited to the issuing of waivers allowing
admittance to the first grade without the successful completion of
kindergarten. The committee shall have no other authority except
as specified in this section.
(E) The scheduling of times for kindergarten classes and
length of the school day for kindergarten shall be determined by
the board of education of a city, exempted village, or local
school district, subject to section 3321.05 of the Revised Code.
(F) Any kindergarten class offered by a day-care provider or
school described by division (B)(1) or (B)(2)(a) of this section
shall be developmentally appropriate.
(G) Upon written request of a day-care provider described by
division (B)(2)(a) of this section, the department of education
shall determine whether certification held by a teacher employed
by the provider meets the requirement of division (B)(2)(b)(iii)
of this section and, if so, shall furnish the provider a statement
to that effect.
(H) As used in this division, "all-day kindergarten" has the
same meaning as in section 3321.05 of the Revised Code.
(1) Any school district that did not receive for fiscal year
2009 poverty-based assistance for all-day kindergarten under
division (D) of section 3317.029 of the Revised Code may charge
fees or tuition for students enrolled in all-day kindergarten. If
a district charges fees or tuition for all-day kindergarten under
this division, the district shall develop a sliding fee scale
based on family incomes.
(2) The department of education shall conduct an annual
survey of each school district described in division (H)(1) of
this section to determine the following:
(1)(a) Whether the district charges fees or tuition for
students enrolled in all-day kindergarten;
(b) The amount of the fees or tuition charged;
(c) How many of the students for whom tuition is charged are
eligible for free lunches under the "National School Lunch Act,"
60 Stat. 230 (1946), 42 U.S.C. 1751, as amended, and the "Child
Nutrition Act of 1966," 80 Stat. 885, 42 U.S.C. 1771, as amended,
and how many of the students for whom tuition is charged are
eligible for reduced price lunches under those acts;
(2)(d) How many students are enrolled in traditional half-day
kindergarten
and how many students are enrolled in rather than
all-day kindergarten, as defined in section 3321.05 of the Revised
Code.
Each district shall report to the department, in the manner
prescribed by the department, the information required by this
division described in divisions (H)(2)(a) to (d) of this section.
The department shall issue an annual report on the results of
the survey and shall post the report on its web site. The
department shall issue the first report not later than April 30,
2008, and shall issue a report not later than the thirtieth day of
April each year thereafter.
Sec. 3321.05. (A) As used in this section, "all-day
kindergarten" means a kindergarten class that is in session five
days per week for not less than the same number of clock hours
each day as for students in grades one through six.
(B) Any school district may operate all-day kindergarten or
extended kindergarten, but beginning in fiscal year 2011, each
city, local, and exempted village school district shall provide
all-day kindergarten to each student enrolled in kindergarten,
except as specified in divisions (C) and (D) of this section.
(C) The board of education of a school district may apply to
the superintendent of public instruction for a waiver of the
requirement to provide all-day kindergarten for all kindergarten
students. In making the determination to grant or deny the waiver,
the state superintendent may consider space concerns or
alternative delivery approaches used by the school district.
(D) No no district shall require any student to attend
kindergarten for more than one-half of the number of clock hours
required each day for grades one through six traditional
kindergarten by the minimum standards adopted under division (D)
of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code. Each school district that
operates all-day or extended kindergarten shall accommodate
kindergarten students whose parents or guardians elect to enroll
them for
one-half of the minimum number of hours required each
day for grades one through six.
(E) A school district may use space in child day-care centers
licensed under Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code to provide
all-day kindergarten under this section.
Section 2. That existing sections 3306.01, 3321.01, and
3321.05 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. That Section 265.70.70 of Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the
128th General Assembly and Section 9 of Sub. H.B. 318 of the 128th
General Assembly are hereby repealed.
Section 4. Sections 1, 2, and 3 of this act take effect on
the later of July 1, 2011, or the earliest date permitted by law.
|