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S. B. No. 237 As IntroducedAs Introduced
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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A BILL
To amend sections 3301.07 and 3301.0714 and to enact
section 3301.078 of the Revised Code with respect
to the Common Core Initiative academic standards,
powers of the State Board of Education, and the
distribution of student information.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3301.07 and 3301.0714 be amended and
section 3301.078 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as
follows:
Sec. 3301.07. The state board of education shall exercise
under the acts of the general assembly general supervision of the
system of public education in the state. In addition to the powers
otherwise imposed on the state board under the provisions of law,
the board shall have the powers described in this section.
(A) The state board shall exercise policy forming, planning,
and evaluative functions for the public schools of the state
except as otherwise provided by law.
(B)(1) The state board shall exercise leadership in the
improvement of public education in this state, and administer the
educational policies of this state relating to public schools, and
relating to instruction and instructional material, building and
equipment, transportation of pupils, administrative
responsibilities of school officials and personnel, and finance
and organization of school districts, educational service centers,
and territory. Consultative and advisory services in such matters
shall be provided by the board to school districts and educational
service centers of this state.
(2) The state board also shall develop a standard of
financial reporting which shall be used by each school district
board of education and each governing board of an educational
service center, each governing authority of a community school
established under Chapter 3314., each governing body of a STEM
school established under Chapter 3328., and each board of trustees
of a college-preparatory boarding school established under Chapter
3328. of the Revised Code to make its financial information and
annual budgets for each school building under its control
available to the public in a format understandable by the average
citizen. The format shall show, both at the district and at the
school building level, revenue by source; expenditures for
salaries, wages, and benefits of employees, showing such amounts
separately for classroom teachers, other employees required to
hold licenses issued pursuant to sections 3319.22 to 3319.31 of
the Revised Code, and all other employees; expenditures other than
for personnel, by category, including utilities, textbooks and
other educational materials, equipment, permanent improvements,
pupil transportation, extracurricular athletics, and other
extracurricular activities; and per pupil expenditures. The format
shall also include information on total revenue and expenditures,
per pupil revenue, and expenditures for both classroom and
nonclassroom purposes, as defined by the standards adopted under
section 3302.20 of the Revised Code in the aggregate and for each
subgroup of students, as defined by section 3317.40 of the Revised
Code, that receives services provided for by state or federal
funding.
(3) Each school district board, governing authority,
governing body, or board of trustees, or its respective designee,
shall annually report, to the department of education, all
financial information required by the standards for financial
reporting, as prescribed by division (B)(2) of this section and
adopted by the state board. The department shall make all reports
submitted pursuant to this division available in such a way that
allows for comparison between financial information included in
these reports and financial information included in reports
produced prior to July 1, 2013. The department shall post these
reports in a prominent location on its web site and shall notify
each school when reports are made available.
(C) The state board shall administer and supervise the
allocation and distribution of all state and federal funds for
public school education under the provisions of law, and may
prescribe such systems of accounting as are necessary and proper
to this function. It may require county auditors and treasurers,
boards of education, educational service center governing boards,
treasurers of such boards, teachers, and other school officers and
employees, or other public officers or employees, to file with it
such reports as it may prescribe relating to such funds, or to the
management and condition of such funds.
(D)(1) Wherever in Titles IX, XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XXXVII,
XLVII, and LI of the Revised Code a reference is made to standards
prescribed under this section or division (D) of this section,
that reference shall be construed to refer to the standards
prescribed under division (D)(2) of this section, unless the
context specifically indicates a different meaning or intent.
(2) The state board shall formulate and prescribe minimum
standards to be applied to all elementary and secondary schools in
this state for the purpose of providing children access to a
general education of high quality according to the learning needs
of each individual, including students with disabilities,
economically disadvantaged students, limited English proficient
students, and students identified as gifted. Such standards shall
provide adequately for: the licensing of teachers, administrators,
and other professional personnel and their assignment according to
training and qualifications; efficient and effective instructional
materials and equipment, including library facilities; the proper
organization, administration, and supervision of each school,
including regulations for preparing all necessary records and
reports and the preparation of a statement of policies and
objectives for each school; the provision of safe buildings,
grounds, health and sanitary facilities and services; admission of
pupils, and such requirements for their promotion from grade to
grade as will assure that they are capable and prepared for the
level of study to which they are certified; and requirements for
graduation; and such other factors as the board finds necessary.
The state board shall base any standards governing the
promotion of students or requirements for graduation on the
ability of students, at any grade level, to earn credits or
advance upon demonstration of mastery of knowledge and skills
through competency-based learning models. Credits of grade level
advancement shall not require a minimum number of days or hours in
a classroom.
The state board shall base any standards governing the
assignment of staff on ensuring each school has a sufficient
number of teachers to ensure a student has an appropriate level of
interaction to meet each student's personal learning goals.
In the formulation and administration of such standards for
nonpublic schools the board shall also consider the particular
needs, methods and objectives of those schools, provided they do
not conflict with the provision of a general education of a high
quality and provided that regular procedures shall be followed for
promotion from grade to grade of pupils who have met the
educational requirements prescribed.
(3) In addition to the minimum standards required by division
(D)(2) of this section, the state board may formulate and
prescribe the following additional minimum operating standards for
school districts:
(a) Standards for the effective and efficient organization,
administration, and supervision of each school district with a
commitment to high expectations for every student based on the
learning needs of each individual, including students with
disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, limited English
proficient students, and students identified as gifted, and
commitment to closing the achievement gap without suppressing the
achievement levels of higher achieving students so that all
students achieve core knowledge and skills in accordance with the
statewide academic standards adopted under section 3301.079 of the
Revised Code;
(b) Standards for the establishment of business advisory
councils under section 3313.82 of the Revised Code;
(c) Standards for school district buildings that may require
the effective and efficient organization, administration, and
supervision of each school district building with a commitment to
high expectations for every student based on the learning needs of
each individual, including students with disabilities,
economically disadvantaged students, limited English proficient
students, and students identified as gifted, and commitment to
closing the achievement gap without suppressing the achievement
levels of higher achieving students so that all students achieve
core knowledge and skills in accordance with the statewide
academic standards adopted under section 3301.079 of the Revised
Code.
(E) The state board may require as part of the health
curriculum information developed under section 2108.34 of the
Revised Code promoting the donation of anatomical gifts pursuant
to Chapter 2108. of the Revised Code and may provide the
information to high schools, educational service centers, and
joint vocational school district boards of education;
(F) The state board shall prepare and submit annually to the
governor and the general assembly a report on the status, needs,
and major problems of the public schools of the state, with
recommendations for necessary legislative action and a ten-year
projection of the state's public and nonpublic school enrollment,
by year and by grade level.
(G) The state board shall prepare and submit to the director
of budget and management the biennial budgetary requests of the
state board of education, for its agencies and for the public
schools of the state.
(H) The state board shall cooperate with federal, state, and
local agencies concerned with the health and welfare of children
and youth of the state.
(I) The state board shall require such reports from school
districts and educational service centers, school officers, and
employees as are necessary and desirable. The superintendents and
treasurers of school districts and educational service centers
shall certify as to the accuracy of all reports required by law or
state board or state department of education rules to be submitted
by the district or educational service center and which contain
information necessary for calculation of state funding. Any
superintendent who knowingly falsifies such report shall be
subject to license revocation pursuant to section 3319.31 of the
Revised Code.
(J) In accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, the
state board shall adopt procedures, standards, and guidelines for
the education of children with disabilities pursuant to Chapter
3323. of the Revised Code, including procedures, standards, and
guidelines governing programs and services operated by county
boards of developmental disabilities pursuant to section 3323.09
of the Revised Code.
(K) For the purpose of encouraging the development of special
programs of education for academically gifted children, the state
board shall employ competent persons to analyze and publish data,
promote research, advise and counsel with boards of education, and
encourage the training of teachers in the special instruction of
gifted children. The board may provide financial assistance out of
any funds appropriated for this purpose to boards of education and
educational service center governing boards for developing and
conducting programs of education for academically gifted children.
(L) The state board shall require that all public schools
emphasize and encourage, within existing units of study, the
teaching of energy and resource conservation as recommended to
each district board of education by leading business persons
involved in energy production and conservation, beginning in the
primary grades.
(M) The state board shall formulate and prescribe minimum
standards requiring the use of phonics as a technique in the
teaching of reading in grades kindergarten through three. In
addition, the state board shall provide in-service training
programs for teachers on the use of phonics as a technique in the
teaching of reading in grades kindergarten through three.
(N) The state board may adopt rules necessary for carrying
out any function imposed on it by law, and may provide rules as
are necessary for its government and the government of its
employees, and may delegate to the superintendent of public
instruction the management and administration of any function
imposed on it by law. It may provide for the appointment of board
members to serve on temporary committees established by the board
for such purposes as are necessary. Permanent or standing
committees shall not be created.
(O) Upon application from the board of education of a school
district, the superintendent of public instruction may issue a
waiver exempting the district from compliance with the standards
adopted under divisions (B)(2) and (D) of this section, as they
relate to the operation of a school operated by the district. The
state board shall adopt standards for the approval or disapproval
of waivers under this division. The state superintendent shall
consider every application for a waiver, and shall determine
whether to grant or deny a waiver in accordance with the state
board's standards. For each waiver granted, the state
superintendent shall specify the period of time during which the
waiver is in effect, which shall not exceed five years. A district
board may apply to renew a waiver.
Sec. 3301.078. (A) The state board of education shall not
adopt, and the department of education shall not implement, the
academic content standards for English language arts and
mathematics developed by the common core standards initiative or
any similar initiative process or program. Nor shall the state
board use the partnership for assessment of readiness for college
and careers (PARCC), the smarter balanced assessment, or any other
assessments related to or based on the common core standards.
Any actions taken to adopt or implement the common core state
standards as of the effective date of this section are void.
(B)(1) A school district board of education shall be the sole
authority for adopting academic content standards that exceed the
standards adopted by the state board under section 3301.079 of the
Revised Code. No official of this state, whether appointed or
elected, shall join on behalf of the state or a state agency any
consortium, association, or other entity when such membership
would require the state or a school district board to cede any
measure of control over education, including academic content
standards and assessments of such standards.
(2) The state board shall provide a minimum of ninety days
public notice of any proposed adoption or revision of academic
content standards on the department of education's web site. The
state board shall request comments on the proposed changes from
the general public, including parents, teachers, experts on
academic content standards, representatives of political,
educational, and faith-based organizations, and nonpartisan policy
institutes.
The state board shall not adopt or revise any statewide
academic content standards until the state board holds a public
hearing in each congressional district in the state. The state
board shall post notice of each hearing on the department's web
site and in a newspaper of general circulation in the respective
congressional district.
(3) Any academic content standards adopted by the state board
shall be limited to the subject areas prescribed under division
(A) of section 3301.079 of the Revised Code.
(C) Notwithstanding anything in the Revised Code to the
contrary, no state funds shall be withheld from a school district
or school for failure to adopt or use the state academic content
standards or the state assessments.
(D) If the United States department of education requires as
a condition of a federal education grant that the grant recipient
provide personally identifiable information of students or
teachers, the grant recipient shall provide aggregate data only.
The grant recipient shall not release personally identifiable
information without informed written consent of the student's
parent or guardian or of the teacher.
Sec. 3301.0714. (A) The state board of education shall adopt
rules for a statewide education management information system. The
rules shall require the state board to establish guidelines for
the establishment and maintenance of the system in accordance with
this section and the rules adopted under this section. The
guidelines shall include:
(1) Standards identifying and defining the types of data in
the system in accordance with divisions (B) and (C) of this
section;
(2) Procedures for annually collecting and reporting the data
to the state board in accordance with division (D) of this
section;
(3) Procedures for annually compiling the data in accordance
with division (G) of this section;
(4) Procedures for annually reporting the data to the public
in accordance with division (H) of this section.
(B) The guidelines adopted under this section shall require
the data maintained in the education management information system
to include at least the following:
(1) Student participation and performance data, for each
grade in each school district as a whole and for each grade in
each school building in each school district, that includes:
(a) The numbers of students receiving each category of
instructional service offered by the school district, such as
regular education instruction, vocational education instruction,
specialized instruction programs or enrichment instruction that is
part of the educational curriculum, instruction for gifted
students, instruction for students with disabilities, and remedial
instruction. The guidelines shall require instructional services
under this division to be divided into discrete categories if an
instructional service is limited to a specific subject, a specific
type of student, or both, such as regular instructional services
in mathematics, remedial reading instructional services,
instructional services specifically for students gifted in
mathematics or some other subject area, or instructional services
for students with a specific type of disability. The categories of
instructional services required by the guidelines under this
division shall be the same as the categories of instructional
services used in determining cost units pursuant to division
(C)(3) of this section.
(b) The numbers of students receiving support or
extracurricular services for each of the support services or
extracurricular programs offered by the school district, such as
counseling services, health services, and extracurricular sports
and fine arts programs. The categories of services required by the
guidelines under this division shall be the same as the categories
of services used in determining cost units pursuant to division
(C)(4)(a) of this section.
(c) Average student grades in each subject in grades nine
through twelve;
(d) Academic achievement levels as assessed under sections
3301.0710, 3301.0711, and 3301.0712 of the Revised Code;
(e) The number of students designated as having a disabling
condition pursuant to division (C)(1) of section 3301.0711 of the
Revised Code;
(f) The numbers of students reported to the state board
pursuant to division (C)(2) of section 3301.0711 of the Revised
Code;
(g) Attendance rates and the average daily attendance for the
year. For purposes of this division, a student shall be counted as
present for any field trip that is approved by the school
administration.
(k) Rates of retention in grade;
(l) For pupils in grades nine through twelve, the average
number of carnegie units, as calculated in accordance with state
board of education rules;
(m) Graduation rates, to be calculated in a manner specified
by the department of education that reflects the rate at which
students who were in the ninth grade three years prior to the
current year complete school and that is consistent with
nationally accepted reporting requirements;
(n) Results of diagnostic assessments administered to
kindergarten students as required under section 3301.0715 of the
Revised Code to permit a comparison of the academic readiness of
kindergarten students. However, no district shall be required to
report to the department the results of any diagnostic assessment
administered to a kindergarten student if the parent of that
student requests the district not to report those results.
(2) Personnel and classroom enrollment data for each school
district, including:
(a) The total numbers of licensed employees and nonlicensed
employees and the numbers of full-time equivalent licensed
employees and nonlicensed employees providing each category of
instructional service, instructional support service, and
administrative support service used pursuant to division (C)(3) of
this section. The guidelines adopted under this section shall
require these categories of data to be maintained for the school
district as a whole and, wherever applicable, for each grade in
the school district as a whole, for each school building as a
whole, and for each grade in each school building.
(b) The total number of employees and the number of full-time
equivalent employees providing each category of service used
pursuant to divisions (C)(4)(a) and (b) of this section, and the
total numbers of licensed employees and nonlicensed employees and
the numbers of full-time equivalent licensed employees and
nonlicensed employees providing each category used pursuant to
division (C)(4)(c) of this section. The guidelines adopted under
this section shall require these categories of data to be
maintained for the school district as a whole and, wherever
applicable, for each grade in the school district as a whole, for
each school building as a whole, and for each grade in each school
building.
(c) The total number of regular classroom teachers teaching
classes of regular education and the average number of pupils
enrolled in each such class, in each of grades kindergarten
through five in the district as a whole and in each school
building in the school district.
(d) The number of lead teachers employed by each school
district and each school building.
(3)(a) Student demographic data for each school district,
including information regarding the gender ratio of the school
district's pupils, the racial make-up of the school district's
pupils, the number of limited English proficient students in the
district, and an appropriate measure of the number of the school
district's pupils who reside in economically disadvantaged
households. The demographic data shall be collected in a manner to
allow correlation with data collected under division (B)(1) of
this section. Categories for data collected pursuant to division
(B)(3) of this section shall conform, where appropriate, to
standard practices of agencies of the federal government.
(b) With respect to each student entering kindergarten,
whether the student previously participated in a public preschool
program, a private preschool program, or a head start program, and
the number of years the student participated in each of these
programs.
(4) Any data required to be collected pursuant to federal
law.
(C) The education management information system shall include
cost accounting data for each district as a whole and for each
school building in each school district. The guidelines adopted
under this section shall require the cost data for each school
district to be maintained in a system of mutually exclusive cost
units and shall require all of the costs of each school district
to be divided among the cost units. The guidelines shall require
the system of mutually exclusive cost units to include at least
the following:
(1) Administrative costs for the school district as a whole.
The guidelines shall require the cost units under this division
(C)(1) to be designed so that each of them may be compiled and
reported in terms of average expenditure per pupil in formula ADM
in the school district, as determined pursuant to section 3317.03
of the Revised Code.
(2) Administrative costs for each school building in the
school district. The guidelines shall require the cost units under
this division (C)(2) to be designed so that each of them may be
compiled and reported in terms of average expenditure per
full-time equivalent pupil receiving instructional or support
services in each building.
(3) Instructional services costs for each category of
instructional service provided directly to students and required
by guidelines adopted pursuant to division (B)(1)(a) of this
section. The guidelines shall require the cost units under
division (C)(3) of this section to be designed so that each of
them may be compiled and reported in terms of average expenditure
per pupil receiving the service in the school district as a whole
and average expenditure per pupil receiving the service in each
building in the school district and in terms of a total cost for
each category of service and, as a breakdown of the total cost, a
cost for each of the following components:
(a) The cost of each instructional services category required
by guidelines adopted under division (B)(1)(a) of this section
that is provided directly to students by a classroom teacher;
(b) The cost of the instructional support services, such as
services provided by a speech-language pathologist, classroom
aide, multimedia aide, or librarian, provided directly to students
in conjunction with each instructional services category;
(c) The cost of the administrative support services related
to each instructional services category, such as the cost of
personnel that develop the curriculum for the instructional
services category and the cost of personnel supervising or
coordinating the delivery of the instructional services category.
(4) Support or extracurricular services costs for each
category of service directly provided to students and required by
guidelines adopted pursuant to division (B)(1)(b) of this section.
The guidelines shall require the cost units under division (C)(4)
of this section to be designed so that each of them may be
compiled and reported in terms of average expenditure per pupil
receiving the service in the school district as a whole and
average expenditure per pupil receiving the service in each
building in the school district and in terms of a total cost for
each category of service and, as a breakdown of the total cost, a
cost for each of the following components:
(a) The cost of each support or extracurricular services
category required by guidelines adopted under division (B)(1)(b)
of this section that is provided directly to students by a
licensed employee, such as services provided by a guidance
counselor or any services provided by a licensed employee under a
supplemental contract;
(b) The cost of each such services category provided directly
to students by a nonlicensed employee, such as janitorial
services, cafeteria services, or services of a sports trainer;
(c) The cost of the administrative services related to each
services category in division (C)(4)(a) or (b) of this section,
such as the cost of any licensed or nonlicensed employees that
develop, supervise, coordinate, or otherwise are involved in
administering or aiding the delivery of each services category.
(D)(1) The guidelines adopted under this section shall
require school districts to collect information about individual
students, staff members, or both in connection with any data
required by division (B) or (C) of this section or other reporting
requirements established in the Revised Code. The guidelines may
also require school districts to report information about
individual staff members in connection with any data required by
division (B) or (C) of this section or other reporting
requirements established in the Revised Code. The guidelines shall
not authorize school districts to request social security numbers
of individual students. The guidelines shall prohibit the
reporting under this section of a student's name, address, and
social security number to the state board of education or the
department of education. The guidelines shall also prohibit the
reporting under this section of any personally identifiable
information about any student, except for the purpose of assigning
the data verification code required by division (D)(2) of this
section, to any other person unless such person is employed by the
school district or the information technology center operated
under section 3301.075 of the Revised Code and is authorized by
the district or technology center to have access to such
information or is employed by an entity with which the department
contracts for the scoring or the development of state assessments.
Access to the information shall be restricted to the fulfillment
of contractual obligations to process data on behalf of the school
district. Such contract shall include a stipulation that the
personally identifiable information shall not be shared with
additional parties. The guidelines may require school districts to
provide the social security numbers of individual staff members
and the county of residence for a student. Nothing in this section
prohibits the state board of education or department of education
from providing a student's county of residence to the department
of taxation to facilitate the distribution of tax revenue.
(2)(a) The guidelines shall provide for each school district
or community school to assign a data verification code that is
unique on a statewide basis over time to each student whose
initial Ohio enrollment is in that district or school and to
report all required individual student data for that student
utilizing such code. The guidelines shall also provide for
assigning data verification codes to all students enrolled in
districts or community schools on the effective date of the
guidelines established under this section. The assignment of data
verification codes for other entities, as described in division
(D)(2)(c) of this section, the use of those codes, and the
reporting and use of associated individual student data shall be
coordinated by the department in accordance with state and federal
law.
School districts shall report individual student data to the
department through the information technology centers utilizing
the code. The entities described in division (D)(2)(c) of this
section shall report individual student data to the department in
the manner prescribed by the department.
Except as provided in sections 3301.941, 3310.11, 3310.42,
3310.63, 3313.978, and 3317.20 of the Revised Code, at no time
shall the state board or the department have access to information
that would enable any data verification code to be matched to
personally identifiable student data.
(b) Each school district and community school shall ensure
that the data verification code is included in the student's
records reported to any subsequent school district, community
school, or state institution of higher education, as defined in
section 3345.011 of the Revised Code, in which the student
enrolls. Any such subsequent district or school shall utilize the
same identifier in its reporting of data under this section.
(c) The director of any state agency that administers a
publicly funded program providing services to children who are
younger than compulsory school age, as defined in section 3321.01
of the Revised Code, including the directors of health, job and
family services, mental health and addiction services, and
developmental disabilities, shall request and receive, pursuant to
sections 3301.0723 and 3701.62 of the Revised Code, a data
verification code for a child who is receiving those services.
(E) The guidelines adopted under this section may require
school districts to collect and report data, information, or
reports other than that described in divisions (A), (B), and (C)
of this section for the purpose of complying with other reporting
requirements established in the Revised Code. The other data,
information, or reports may be maintained in the education
management information system but are not required to be compiled
as part of the profile formats required under division (G) of this
section or the annual statewide report required under division (H)
of this section.
(F) Beginning with the school year that begins July 1, 1991,
the board of education of each school district shall annually
collect and report to the state board, in accordance with the
guidelines established by the board, the data required pursuant to
this section. A school district may collect and report these data
notwithstanding section 2151.357 or 3319.321 of the Revised Code.
(G) The state board shall, in accordance with the procedures
it adopts, annually compile the data reported by each school
district pursuant to division (D) of this section. The state board
shall design formats for profiling each school district as a whole
and each school building within each district and shall compile
the data in accordance with these formats. These profile formats
shall:
(1) Include all of the data gathered under this section in a
manner that facilitates comparison among school districts and
among school buildings within each school district;
(2) Present the data on academic achievement levels as
assessed by the testing of student achievement maintained pursuant
to division (B)(1)(d) of this section.
(H)(1) The state board shall, in accordance with the
procedures it adopts, annually prepare a statewide report for all
school districts and the general public that includes the profile
of each of the school districts developed pursuant to division (G)
of this section. Copies of the report shall be sent to each school
district.
(2) The state board shall, in accordance with the procedures
it adopts, annually prepare an individual report for each school
district and the general public that includes the profiles of each
of the school buildings in that school district developed pursuant
to division (G) of this section. Copies of the report shall be
sent to the superintendent of the district and to each member of
the district board of education.
(3) Copies of the reports received from the state board under
divisions (H)(1) and (2) of this section shall be made available
to the general public at each school district's offices. Each
district board of education shall make copies of each report
available to any person upon request and payment of a reasonable
fee for the cost of reproducing the report. The board shall
annually publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the
school district, at least twice during the two weeks prior to the
week in which the reports will first be available, a notice
containing the address where the reports are available and the
date on which the reports will be available.
(I) Any data that is collected or maintained pursuant to this
section and that identifies an individual pupil is not a public
record for the purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
(J) As used in this section:
(1) "School district" means any city, local, exempted
village, or joint vocational school district and, in accordance
with section 3314.17 of the Revised Code, any community school. As
used in division (L) of this section, "school district" also
includes any educational service center or other educational
entity required to submit data using the system established under
this section.
(2) "Cost" means any expenditure for operating expenses made
by a school district excluding any expenditures for debt
retirement except for payments made to any commercial lending
institution for any loan approved pursuant to section 3313.483 of
the Revised Code.
(K) Any person who removes data from the information system
established under this section for the purpose of releasing it to
any person not entitled under law to have access to such
information is subject to section 2913.42 of the Revised Code
prohibiting tampering with data.
(L)(1) In accordance with division (L)(2) of this section and
the rules adopted under division (L)(10) of this section, the
department of education may sanction any school district that
reports incomplete or inaccurate data, reports data that does not
conform to data requirements and descriptions published by the
department, fails to report data in a timely manner, or otherwise
does not make a good faith effort to report data as required by
this section.
(2) If the department decides to sanction a school district
under this division, the department shall take the following
sequential actions:
(a) Notify the district in writing that the department has
determined that data has not been reported as required under this
section and require the district to review its data submission and
submit corrected data by a deadline established by the department.
The department also may require the district to develop a
corrective action plan, which shall include provisions for the
district to provide mandatory staff training on data reporting
procedures.
(b) Withhold up to ten per cent of the total amount of state
funds due to the district for the current fiscal year and, if not
previously required under division (L)(2)(a) of this section,
require the district to develop a corrective action plan in
accordance with that division;
(c) Withhold an additional amount of up to twenty per cent of
the total amount of state funds due to the district for the
current fiscal year;
(d) Direct department staff or an outside entity to
investigate the district's data reporting practices and make
recommendations for subsequent actions. The recommendations may
include one or more of the following actions:
(i) Arrange for an audit of the district's data reporting
practices by department staff or an outside entity;
(ii) Conduct a site visit and evaluation of the district;
(iii) Withhold an additional amount of up to thirty per cent
of the total amount of state funds due to the district for the
current fiscal year;
(iv) Continue monitoring the district's data reporting;
(v) Assign department staff to supervise the district's data
management system;
(vi) Conduct an investigation to determine whether to suspend
or revoke the license of any district employee in accordance with
division (N) of this section;
(vii) If the district is issued a report card under section
3302.03 of the Revised Code, indicate on the report card that the
district has been sanctioned for failing to report data as
required by this section;
(viii) If the district is issued a report card under section
3302.03 of the Revised Code and incomplete or inaccurate data
submitted by the district likely caused the district to receive a
higher performance rating than it deserved under that section,
issue a revised report card for the district;
(ix) Any other action designed to correct the district's data
reporting problems.
(3) Any time the department takes an action against a school
district under division (L)(2) of this section, the department
shall make a report of the circumstances that prompted the action.
The department shall send a copy of the report to the district
superintendent or chief administrator and maintain a copy of the
report in its files.
(4) If any action taken under division (L)(2) of this section
resolves a school district's data reporting problems to the
department's satisfaction, the department shall not take any
further actions described by that division. If the department
withheld funds from the district under that division, the
department may release those funds to the district, except that if
the department withheld funding under division (L)(2)(c) of this
section, the department shall not release the funds withheld under
division (L)(2)(b) of this section and, if the department withheld
funding under division (L)(2)(d) of this section, the department
shall not release the funds withheld under division (L)(2)(b) or
(c) of this section.
(5) Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary,
the department may use its own staff or an outside entity to
conduct an audit of a school district's data reporting practices
any time the department has reason to believe the district has not
made a good faith effort to report data as required by this
section. If any audit conducted by an outside entity under
division (L)(2)(d)(i) or (5) of this section confirms that a
district has not made a good faith effort to report data as
required by this section, the district shall reimburse the
department for the full cost of the audit. The department may
withhold state funds due to the district for this purpose.
(6) Prior to issuing a revised report card for a school
district under division (L)(2)(d)(viii) of this section, the
department may hold a hearing to provide the district with an
opportunity to demonstrate that it made a good faith effort to
report data as required by this section. The hearing shall be
conducted by a referee appointed by the department. Based on the
information provided in the hearing, the referee shall recommend
whether the department should issue a revised report card for the
district. If the referee affirms the department's contention that
the district did not make a good faith effort to report data as
required by this section, the district shall bear the full cost of
conducting the hearing and of issuing any revised report card.
(7) If the department determines that any inaccurate data
reported under this section caused a school district to receive
excess state funds in any fiscal year, the district shall
reimburse the department an amount equal to the excess funds, in
accordance with a payment schedule determined by the department.
The department may withhold state funds due to the district for
this purpose.
(8) Any school district that has funds withheld under
division (L)(2) of this section may appeal the withholding in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.
(9) In all cases of a disagreement between the department and
a school district regarding the appropriateness of an action taken
under division (L)(2) of this section, the burden of proof shall
be on the district to demonstrate that it made a good faith effort
to report data as required by this section.
(10) The state board of education shall adopt rules under
Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement division (L) of this
section.
(M) No information technology center or school district shall
acquire, change, or update its student administration software
package to manage and report data required to be reported to the
department unless it converts to a student software package that
is certified by the department.
(N) The state board of education, in accordance with sections
3319.31 and 3319.311 of the Revised Code, may suspend or revoke a
license as defined under division (A) of section 3319.31 of the
Revised Code that has been issued to any school district employee
found to have willfully reported erroneous, inaccurate, or
incomplete data to the education management information system.
(O) No person shall release or maintain any information about
any student in violation of this section. Whoever violates this
division is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(P) The department shall disaggregate the data collected
under division (B)(1)(n) of this section according to the race and
socioeconomic status of the students assessed. No data collected
under that division shall be included on the report cards required
by section 3302.03 of the Revised Code.
(Q) If the department cannot compile any of the information
required by division (H) of section 3302.03 of the Revised Code
based upon the data collected under this section, the department
shall develop a plan and a reasonable timeline for the collection
of any data necessary to comply with that division.
Section 2. That existing sections 3301.07 and 3301.0714 of
the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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