BASA AdminiScope, May 2020

Pandemic-Related Legislation by Kevin Miller

OTES Because there were no spring, 2020 state assessments, and therefore no value-added data, districts would be expected to develop a growth measure of their own to replace the value-added measure that results from assessments taken the previous year. Requiring districts to develop their own growth measure is unwieldy at best, particularly given the challenges involved in bringing students back after the extended school closing. The fix: Suspend the value-added and student growth measure components of OTES for the 2020-2021 school year. Third Grade Reading Guarantee HB 197 allows local districts to make a determination about whether or not a student is ready to be promoted from the third grade to the fourth grade. Because many of these young students will have fallen severely behind during the school closings under the Coronavirus Pandemic, it could take a significant amount of time for students to get back on track. The fix: Extend HB 197’s provision to allow local districts to determine whether or not a student is ready to be promoted to fourth grade through school years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. Report Card Implications HB 197 recognizes that school districts would be affected negatively by test results and other report card measures that do not accurately reflect the work of school leaders and staff, all due to circumstances beyond their control. State and federal assessments were suspended for the 2019-2020 school year. Districts will be held harmless for any punitive results from these regular accountability measures. However, the impact of the school closings under Coronavirus Pandemic will be much more far reaching than just the current school year. The fix: Extend HB 197’s hold harmless provisions related to results such as voucher and community school eligibility, ADCs, etc., through school years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. Use of School District Facilities Ohio law requires that school districts permit the use of school buildings by other organizations, including the County Board of Elections for polling locations. During this time of uncertainty for school districts and their students, this requirement should not be mandated. The use of school buildings by outside entities will cause undue burden on district staff to be sure the facility is clean and safe. It will mean additional costs for the district and may provide opportunities for unsafe gatherings. The fix: Suspend the requirements in ORC 3313.76, 3313.77 and 3313.78 for school districts through the 2020-2021 school year, and to permit district boards of education to decide locally whether or not to grant the use of its buildings to outside groups. Permissive Furloughs When school districts experience financial difficulties, boards of education have the legal authority to reduce staff through Reductions in Force (RIFs) through ORC sections 3319.17 and 3319.172. However, Ohio law does not provide for boards to furlough employees temporarily or in segments. State agencies have the ability to furlough staff, including setting a certain number of days when staff will be off without pay. The fix: Give boards of education the permissive authority to furlough staff in lieu of RIFs, including the ability to determine whether or not staff would continue to receive benefits during the furlough period.

Change theory says that people who are most successful with change are those who can deal with “living on the edge of chaos.” I think it’s safe to say that these past few months, our BASAmembers have not been on the edge of chaos, but firmly planted in the midst of it. However, across the state, your responses have been stellar. You have had to make decisions and put procedures and practices in place that have never been experienced in the history of America’s modern education system. Our job at BASA is to provide support and make as much sense of the “chaos” as possible. As we work with the Ohio Department of Education and legislators, we walk a fine line in influencing legislation that provides directives that are specific enough to give you direction yet general enough to give you flexibility. We advocate for as much local control as possible so that each superintendent can make decisions that are best for your community and your unique situation. No one knows your school district and your students better than you, your leadership team, your teachers, and the parents of the children you serve. House Bill 197 addressed many of the issues you were dealing with when the Governor declared a temporary close-down of all school buildings in Ohio. Local control was provided for important decisions such as the third- grade reading guarantee and meeting graduation requirements. Now that buildings have been closed for the rest of the school year, we have been working with legislators to develop legislation that addresses additional needs of districts in this long-term, long-distance learning environment. Like everything else at this time, this list is a moving target with new issues added when new needs are iden- tified. At the writing of this article, meetings with legislators are ongoing with a focus on educating them about the challenges Ohio’s school districts are facing. Following is a quick run-down of legislative issues for which we’ve been advocating. Graduation Requirements for Underclassmen. Because there were end-of-course exams that were not administered in the 2019-2020 school year, under - classmen will not be able to earn the points for these exams necessary for graduation. It would be unfair to expect students to take an end-of-course assessment at a later date. The fix: If the student earned a passing grade in the course for which they would have otherwise been required to take an end-of-course exam, the point should be awarded. For the Class of 2023 and on, a passing grade in a class should equate to a “competent” score and as equivalent to scoring proficient or better. Non-renewal and Continuing Contracts HB 197 permits school districts to suspend evaluation requirements for teachers and administrators for the 2019-2020 school year. While this option is needed for many districts, there may also be unintended conse - quences. If a school district doesn’t complete an evaluation for a teacher, by law, that person cannot be non- renewed and they automatically roll over to a one-year extended limited contract unless they are already on a one-year extended limited contract, in which case they rollover to a continuing contract. While it is reasonable to expect that teachers receive a one-year rollover under the current Coronavirus Pandemic circumstance, the automatic rollover to a continuing contract will create a burden for districts. The fix: Give districts the flexibility to award a one-year limited contract, even if evaluations were not completed or if a teacher was already on a one-year limited contracted. I’m afraid our time to get this issue addressed is running out as your June 1 deadline for awarding contracts looms. We encouraged ODE to extend the contract renewal deadline to June 15, but at this point, there has been no response to our request.

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