28th General Assembly
(As Introduced)
Reps. Bubp and Pryor, J. Adams, R. Adams, Balderson, Blair, Burke, Daniels, Derickson, Domenick, Fende, Gardner, Grossman, Hackett, Huffman, Jordan, Lehner, Letson, Luckie, Maag, Martin, McGregor, Mecklenborg, Morgan, Murray, Okey, Pillich, Ruhl, Sears, Snitchler, Stebelton, Uecker, Wagner, B. Williams, Yuko
BILL SUMMARY
· Adds Junior ROTC as a permitted elective within the Ohio Core curriculum.
· Permits school districts, STEM schools, and chartered nonpublic schools to excuse students participating in Junior ROTC for at least two school years from high school physical education.
CONTENT AND OPERATION
(R.C. 3313.603(C))
To earn a high school diploma, students of public and nonpublic schools must complete their high school's curriculum, which must at least satisfy the minimum high school curriculum prescribed in state law. A new state minimum curriculum called the "Ohio Core," consisting of 20 units of study distributed differently from the previous minimum curriculum, first applies to members of the Class of 2014 attending school districts, community schools, STEM schools, and chartered nonpublic schools.[1] The Ohio Core allows five units (600 hours) of electives, but restricts elective to one or a combination of foreign language, fine arts, business, career-technical education, family and consumer sciences, technology, agricultural education, or English language arts, math, science, or social studies courses not otherwise required under the Ohio Core.
The bill adds to this list of permitted electives a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program approved by the United States Congress under Title 10 of the United States Code.[2]
(R.C. 3313.603(L))
Both the minimum high school curriculum that applies until 2014 and the Ohio Core curriculum require students to take one-half unit (120 hours) of physical education to earn a diploma. But each school district board, each STEM school governing body, and each chartered nonpublic school may adopt a policy that excuses from high school physical education students who have participated in interscholastic athletics, marching band, or cheerleading for at least two full seasons.[3] If the board or school adopts such a policy, it may not require the student to complete any physical education course as a condition to graduate from high school. However, the student must complete one-half unit of at least 60 hours of instruction in another course of study.
The bill allows districts and schools also to excuse from physical education students who participate in Junior ROTC for at least two full school years. If they elect to excuse Junior ROTC students from physical education, the bill states that the academic credit the students receive from Junior ROTC "may be used to satisfy the requirement" that the students complete one-half unit in another course.
As with athletics, marching band, and cheerleading under current law, this new authority is permissive. Schools are not required to excuse Junior ROTC students from physical education. Moreover, the requirement that students participate in Junior ROTC for "at least" two full school years might be interpreted as granting schools the option to require more than two years' participation in Junior ROTC to be excused from physical education.[4]
Finally, as with athletics, marching band, and cheerleading under current law, it is not clear that the bill's authority to excuse Junior ROTC students from physical education is granted to community schools, in the event that a community school were to provide a Junior ROTC program.
HISTORY
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ACTION |
DATE |
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Introduced |
09-29-09 |
h0290-i-128.docx/kl
[1] The Ohio Core minimum is applied to community schools and STEM schools by R.C. 3314.03(A)(11)(f) and 3326.15, respectively. Neither section appears in the bill.
[2] See 10 U.S.C. 2031.
[3] This authority is granted to STEM schools by R.C. 3326.15, which does not appear in the bill. It is unclear whether this authority is granted to community schools (see R.C. 3314.03(A)(11)(f), not in the bill).
[4]
In fact, the Department of Education has advised that current law's use of the
phrase "at least two full seasons," with respect to athletics,
marching band, and cheerleading, authorizes schools to require more than
two seasons of participation to be excused from physical education. See
"Frequently Asked Questions about the Physical Education
Requirements," http://education.ohio.gov/GD/Templates/Pages/
ODE/ODEDetail.aspx?Page=3&TopicRelationID=1702&Content=74108, visited
10/19/09.