Week in Review 04-09-2021

Week in Review > Week in Review 04-09-2021

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on April 09th, 2021

FY20-21 BUDGET

Ohio is three quarters of a billion dollars ahead after three quarters of FY21, the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) said Tuesday in its preliminary revenue report for March. OBM Director Kim Murnieks told Hannah News variations from estimates in tax categories for the month represent issues of timing or continuation of trends seen throughout the pandemic. For example, a March miss on personal income tax payments of 6.8 percent of $38.4 million compensates for overages in January and February resulting from the delayed opening of the federal income tax filing system. “Robust” performance in the auto sales tax — up $32.3 million or 23.5 percent — is in line with past months, driven by pandemic era trends, including shifting consumer demand and a constrained supply of vehicles that drives up per unit pricing.

CORONAVIRUS

 Gov. Mike DeWine Monday said his administration is issuing a new health order that will consolidate some previous health orders and repeal others, moving to what he called a “back to basics approach” that emphasizes mask wearing, hand washing and social distancing. Most of all, he said the order will make it clear that events such as proms, graduations and festivals can be held this year, but those attending need to take “common sense” precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

EDUCATION

The State Board of Education’s (SBOE) Legislative Committee met Monday to review two proposals for reforming the school report card system. Both staff with the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) as well as board members repeatedly referenced the importance of viewing the proposals through an equity lens. Marjorie Yano, legislative director for ODE, gave a review of HB200 (Jones-Robinson) and SB145 (Brenner), highlighting the similarities and differences between the two bills.

As part of its RemotEDx initiative, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) recently awarded subgrants to nonprofit and community-based organizations partnering with schools to help improve remote caring, teaching and learning opportunities for underserved students in Ohio.

The State Board of Education’s (SBOE) Legislative Committee met for the second time this week to approve a resolution that makes recommendations about provisions in two pending legislative proposals for school report card reform. The resolution states the committee supports eliminating the current A-F letter grade rating system used in the school report card and replacing it with a new rating system “that is clear and easy for families to understand.” Both bills do away with the A-F letter grade rating system and propose new systems.

The Ohio departments of higher education (ODHE) and education (ODE) Thursday announced funding awards totaling nearly $1 million as part of a state initiative to increase the number of students who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). As part of the recently launched FAFSA 21 initiative, awards totaling $966,772 will be shared among 23 recipients, including college access groups, educational service centers, and colleges and universities. The awards are part of $2.85 million in the federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding that will be invested for FAFSA completion projects over the next year and a half. These funds will be used to support direct intervention, data system upgrades and professional development.