Week in Review 10-20-25

Week in Review > Week in Review 10-20-25

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on October 20th, 2025

EDUCATION

A recent cost-benefit analysis by Scioto Analysis of a universal school meal program in Ohio estimates that for one school year, the cost of providing the option of free school breakfasts and lunches to all students in Ohio to be approximately $350 million between direct costs and “tax inefficiencies.” However, according to the analysis, the return on such an investment could grow as high as $876 million, taking into account such benefits as direct savings for families, cafeteria staff and food suppliers; the economic value of time saved by parents who no longer would have to plan student meals at home; reduced health care costs due to reduced obesity; and students’ increased lifetime earning as predicted by improved test scores induced by improved nutrition.

The regular meeting of the State Board of Education (SBOE) on Tuesday dove into potential new frameworks for the state’s teachers to operate in the classroom and also to develop as educators. SBOE Director of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness Yenetta Harper presented a potential update to the Ohio Standards for Professional Learning. Harper said the standards were created in 2015 and updated in 2022, and the proposed changes are informed by national nonprofit Learning Forward.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) is likely to hold an emergency referendum vote on a bylaw that would allow high school student-athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness (NIL) because of a lawsuit filed in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, OHSAA has announced. The lawsuit was filed by Jasmine Brown, the mother of Wayne High School wide receiver Jamier Brown, a five-star recruit who has verbally committed to attend Ohio State University.

The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) held its regular commission meeting Thursday on location at a school in Columbus that now serves 900 middle and high school students with an emphasis on STEM education. This project is a partnership between OFCC, Metro Schools, Ohio State University (OSU) and Battelle. Metro Schools, a semi-public, non-charter privately funded high school located in Columbus, started an extensive renovation in 2021 of a historic middle school building in the city. According to OSU, OFCC contributed $15 million to the renovation, Battelle contributed $13.5 million, and the partnership involved other community donors as well.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) named Sen. Jane Timken (R-Canton) as chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, effectively trading places with Sen. Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson), who has served as chair and who now becomes vice chair of the committee. Roegner also chairs the Senate General Government Committee.

Two House members gave sponsor testimony Tuesday on legislation that would address the safekeeping and management of unclaimed digital assets in a way that the state currently handles unclaimed funds. Reps. Steve Demetriou (R-Chagrin Falls) and Josh Williams (R-Oregon) spoke to the House Technology and Innovation Committee on their HB426 Tuesday, with Demetriou saying it “represents a necessary modernization of Ohio’s laws to ensure our state remains ahead of the curve in how we handle and protect digital assets.”

The General Assembly should move quickly to clarify that raffles can be operated online after several volunteer fire departments received cease and desist letters from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, according to Reps. Meredith Craig (R-Smithville) and David Thomas (R-Jefferson). “Over the past year, local nonprofits — including volunteer fire departments — have received cease-and-desist notices from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office for conducting online raffles. Current law only allows for the sale of in-person raffle tickets,” Craig told the House Finance Committee during sponsor testimony on HB476 (Craig-D. Thomas) on Tuesday.

Citing the relatively low cost of a home inspection compared to the cost of potential future home repairs that an inspection could save a homeowner, Jason Kunkel of Ohio Realtors urged the General Assembly’s continued support on Tuesday for the Ohio Home Inspector Board (OHIB) established in 132-SB255 (McColley). During his occupational licensing review testimony to the House General Government Committee, Kunkel said that upwards of 98-99 percent of real estate transactions that come to his real estate brokerage office include an inspection, with rare exceptions where a seller with multiple offers might waive such an inspection.

Witnesses before the Senate Financial Institutions, Insurance and Technology Committee Tuesday supported requiring some sort of a parental approval for children to download and install apps on their devices. Which approach to take in order to reach that goal is a question that the committee is working through as it hears two separate bills on the issue. SB167 (Reynolds) would require the option to indicate a user is a minor when setting up a phone. If they do, the child’s account is then linked to the parents’. From there, parental consent is required each time a minor attempts to download or make an in-app purchase. SB175 (Patton), however, requires both app stores and operating system providers to request the user’s age at the time of account creation, and it prohibits app developers from providing minors access to adult content. It further requires app developers to declare which content or features are for adults and which are for minors, and requires them to build easily accessible parental controls into their apps.

Wednesday’s House session included passage of HB162 (Click), regarding parental access to children’s medical records; HB227 (Robb Blasdel-Johnson), regarding excavation; road naming bills HB275 (McClain) and HB325 (Holmes-Ritter); and SCR2 (Johnson), urging action to secure the electric grid.

Wednesday’s Senate session included passage of SB35 (Cirino-Reynolds), regarding supported decision-making for adults with disabilities; SB61 (Gavarone-Manning), regarding court rules; SB103 (Wilkin), regarding alternative rate plans for natural gas companies; and SB217 (Landis), a land conveyance bill.

The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board (CSRAB) announced it will host trick-or-treat and spooky Statehouse tours on Halloween for the first time. The trick-or-treat tours will take place on Friday, Oct. 31, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and will offer children the opportunity to explore the Statehouse in costume while listening to age-appropriate facts about the building and its different functions. Children will receive a treat at various stops throughout the tour. Those interested are asked to RSVP by Wednesday, Oct. 29 to tours@ohiostatehouse.org.

In other legislative action, House Technology and Innovation Committee reported out HB159 (Santucci-Demetriou), to create the manufacturing technologies assistance grant program; Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee reported out HCR13 (Hoops-Robinson), urging designation of the Buckeye Trail as a National Scenic Trail; Senate Education Committee reported out SB156 (Cutrona), regarding the success sequence curriculum; House Natural Resources Committee reported out SB152 (Brenner), regarding euthanasia at wild animal rehabilitation facilities; and Senate Armed Services, Veterans Affairs and Public Safety Committee reported out SB223 (Patton), regarding park discounts for veterans and service members.

Oct. 3 update. They include 26 males and 14 females, spread among 24 counties.

PENSIONS

Attorney General Dave Yost won a few procedural victories, one by default, as his case against State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board of Trustees Chair Rudy Fichtenbaum and former trustee Wade Steen heads to trial at month’s end. Yost sued the two trustees last year, alleging breach of their fiduciary duties, claims that Steen and Fichtenbaum strongly deny. The case is set for trial Monday, Oct. 27.

Changes to the makeup of the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board of Trustees will remain on hold after a Franklin County common pleas judge issued a preliminary injunction to take the place of an expiring temporary restraining order. Judge Carl Aveni wrote that lawmakers violated the single-subject and three-readings rules of the Ohio Constitution when they attached the STRS governance reforms to the budget bill, HB96 (Stewart), at the tail end of deliberation on the bill.

The House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee took testimony Wednesday from a host of first responder groups urging enactment of a trio of bills to bolster their retirement options, arguing they are critical for recruitment and retention of officers and public safety in general. The committee took proponent testimony on the following measures:

– HB280 (Abrams-T. Hall), the latest in a series of bills seeking to increase employer contributions to the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) and equalize those contributions across the police and fire jurisdictions. Firefighter employers currently contribute substantially more per employee than police agencies.

– HB73 (K. Miller-T. Hall), which would create a Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) in the law enforcement division of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS-LE), akin to the program currently offered by OP&F.

– HB424 (Willis-Craig), which would lift some restrictions on the transfer of service credit from OP&F or the Highway Patrol Retirement System (HPRS) to OPERS.

The State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board of Trustees re-elected retired economics professor Rudy Fichtenbaum as chair Thursday and chose Berea teacher Pat Davidson as vice chair, now that a preliminary injunction is in place for the foreseeable future to block governance reforms included in the most recent state budget.

REDISTRICTING/REAPPORTIONMENT

With the task of drawing a new congressional map in the hands of the Ohio Redistricting Commission and the clock ticking on the panel to act, Gov. Mike DeWine announced he will convene the panel Tuesday, Oct. 21. The commission will meet at 9 a.m. in the Senate Finance Hearing Room.

STATE GOVERNMENT

All but two state agencies have achieved a regulatory reduction goal of 30 percent since the passage of legislation requiring them to do so, according to the co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR). They announced Thursday that all state agencies required to submit reports on their rule reduction activity had now done so. While the co-chairs did not name those two agencies, JCARR staff confirmed to Hannah News that they are the Ohio EPA and the Department of Veterans Services.

TAXATION

Amid legislative debate on property tax changes, the Ohio Municipal League Board of Trustees released a set of recommendations it said are meant to balance tax relief for vulnerable residents with the need to preserve essential services. They include expanding the homestead exemption and eliminating the non-business credit but expanding the owner-occupancy credit, among others.

WORKFORCE

The Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation and nonprofit Ohio Excels hosted this year’s “Aim Hire” conference at the Hilton in downtown Columbus Thursday, with speakers including Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) Chancellor Mike Duffey and Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) Director Steve Dackin. Sen. Kyle Koehler (R-Springfield) and Rep. Bride Sweeney (D-Westlake) participated in a panel discussion in the conference as well.