Week in Review 2-23-26

Week in Review > Week in Review 2-23-26

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on February 23rd, 2026

CHILDREN/FAMILIES

The Department of Children and Youth (DCY) announced details Friday on its review of a record number of program integrity referrals regarding the Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC) Program in 2025. The year saw 124 referrals, each one of which was reviewed and resulted in either termination of provider agreements, corrective actions or determinations that no further action was required. DCY said the referrals raised concerns or questions on attendance, overpayment, eligibility, adherence to policy and other issues related to suspected fraud. The investigations are part of DCY’s commitment to “accountability and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”

Nearly half of child care providers in Central Ohio are separately operating at a loss, and over half fear not being able to stay open past the next 12 months, according to recent data released by Columbus-based Action for Children in their annual Child Care Provider Survey. The balance between child care needs, how important the fulfillment of those needs are to the region’s workforce and economy, and the state of Ohio’s role in filling those needs all took center stage this week as the Columbus Metropolitan Club (CMC) hosted a forum on “The State of Child Care.”

Two separate bills representing distinct approaches to monitoring attendance and guarding against fraud at the state’s publicly funded child care (PFCC) centers were heard by the House Children and Human Services Committee on Tuesday, as the committee considers the best way to ensure PFCC in Ohio remains a responsible and accountable steward of taxpayer dollars. The joint sponsors of both HB647 (Plummer-Young) and HB649 (Williams-Swearingen) introduced their bills separately last month in response to widely publicized accusations of fraud committed at child care centers in Minnesota.

House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) told reporters Wednesday the Legislature should work to address child care access and affordability issues, after being asked about the House Children and Human Services Committee holding hearings Tuesday on two bills about child care fraud concerns, HB647 (Plummer-Young) and HB649 (Williams-Swearingen).

Members of the House Commerce and Labor Committee say Ohio employers are exploiting school-age teens in violation of child labor laws with relative impunity and no monetary penalties. They have introduced the “Clock Out Kids Act” to fine workplaces $50,000 for each knowing offense and require public and private school employees to alert the Ohio Department of Commerce (DOC) of suspected infractions.

EDUCATION

Reps. Tom Young (R-Washington Twp.) and Andrea White (R-Kettering) held a press conference Tuesday on their recently introduced HB690, which adds new protections for school crossing guards. They were joined by Kettering Police Chief Chip Protsman, with Franklin City Schools crossing guard Becky Evans speaking over videoconference about her experience having been injured by being hit by a car. Evans said she volunteered to be a crossing guard to ensure children’s safety and that five other people helping Franklin City Schools had been hit before her. She detailed how she still experiences medical issues and has PTSD from being hit on Jan. 31, 2025, while the driver was penalized with a $48 fine.

Allowing the state’s high school athletes to enter into name, image and likeness (NIL) deals could lead to poor character development, supporters of HB661 (Bird-Odioso) — legislation seeking to bar NIL deals for high school athletes — said Tuesday during the House Education Committee. The committee heard from Stephen Specht, head football coach at St. Xavier High School, and Jonathan Cooper, superintendent of Mason City Schools, both of whom testified as proponents to the legislation. “I want to be very clear my position on this,” said Specht, “I am not against the spirit of NIL … I never have been … What I am against is pay to play … my question is where are the guardrails? At the high school level, where are the guardrails?” he asked the committee.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY/STATEHOUSE

Wednesday’s House session included passage of tax conformity legislation SB9 (Blessing), albeit without the emergency clause needed to put it into effect in time for this filing season; SB295 (Manning-Patton), to change the competency restoration process for those accused of serious offenses; HB326 (Ritter-Newman), expanding options for nationally standardized college admissions tests; HB472 (Salvo-Cockley), to provide free ID documents to people experiencing homelessness; HB296 (M. Miller), to give offenders returning to society a six-month grace period before being required to pay back court fines and fees; HR304 (Willis), urging support for Ohio’s proposal to the federal government for electrical vertical takeoff and landing and advanced air mobility integration; and HB385 (Moore), a road naming bill.

Wednesday’s Senate session included passage of SB106 (Reineke), regarding electrical vehicle charging stations; HB52 (Deeter), regarding certified registered nurse anesthetists; and HB277 (Blasdel-Johnson), regarding excavation requirements.

One entity recommended its sunset at the first meeting of the Joint Sunset Review Committee, chaired by Sen. Kyle Koehler (R-Springfield). The joint committee is charged with evaluating the usefulness, performance and effectiveness of various minor state agencies. Alex Penrod, special assistant to the chancellor for external affairs at the Ohio Department of Higher Education, recommended the discontinuation of the Committee on Combatting Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Anti-Christian Discrimination, which was tasked in 135-SB94 (Brenner-Landis) with writing a report outlining model policy, guidance, best practices, and recommendations for further action for campuses to use to develop their own policies related to antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Christian discrimination.

In other legislative action, House Children and Human Services Committee reported out HB532 (K. Miller), regarding child custody actions; House Community Revitalization Committee reported out HB58 (Pizzulli-Jarrells), regarding recovery housing and addiction services; House Education Committee reported out HB500 (Mathews-Ritter), regarding JROTC and career-technical education; House Small Business Committee reported out HB332 (Mathews-Hiner), to create a small defense business linked deposit program; House Workforce and Higher Education Committee reported out HB25, regarding foster youth in the education system; Senate General Government Committee reported out SB262, regarding construction contracts; House Health Committee reported out HB479 (Schmidt), regarding physician supervision of contrast administration for imaging; SB18 (Reynolds-Craig), to designate Cardiovascular Health Awareness Day; SB137 (Johnson), to require hospitals to provide overdose reversal drugs under certain circumstances; and HB8 (A. White), regarding coverage of biomarker testing; House Local Government Committee reported out HB428 (D. Thomas-Williams), to remove residency requirements for certain city positions; and House Ways and Means Committee reported out HB503 (Roemer-Workman), regarding municipal income tax reciprocity credits.

GOVERNOR

Gov. Mike DeWine will deliver his final “State of the State” address to a joint session of the General Assembly next month, per a resolution introduced and approved Wednesday in the House. The chamber passed HCR36 (Manning), which sets Wednesday, March 11 as the date of the speech.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Ohio State University (OSU) has been ranked one of the best in the nation for research, a statement released by the university said. The university has climbed to 12th place nationally among all universities for total research expenditures and sixth place nationally for industry-sponsored research, according to OSU’s statement, which cited the National Science Foundation’s annual Higher Education Research and Development survey. The survey highlighted OSU’s more than $1.58 billion in research expenditures for FY24, showing an increase of more than 9 percent from the previous year, OSU said.

The Lourdes University, a Catholic institution outside Toledo, announced it will close at the end of the 2025-26 academic year after being in operation since 1958. Primary funding for the school was provided by the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania since the university’s founding. A release by the Board of Trustees and the Sisters of St. Francis, said, “The sisters can no longer continue to subsidize the university at the level required to sustain its operations.”

Ohio University’s (OU) Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (HCOM) and Kettering Health are partnering to strengthen the state’s physician workforce and improve care delivery in rural and underserved areas, a statement released by the university said. With a focus on whole-person care, medical training and innovative health care solutions, the organizations have established a “long-term collaborative model” which they say will ultimately work to improve health outcomes for communities across the state, most notably those in Southwest Ohio.

The University of Toledo (UToledo) College of Law joined the Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Project to streamline the pardon application process for eligible Ohioans who have demonstrated rehabilitation and positive contributions to their communities. The Expedited Pardon Project was started by Gov. Mike DeWine in 2019 in partnership with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC), the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Drug Enforcement and Policy Center and the University of Akron School of Law Reentry Clinic.

House Speaker Matt Huffman (R-Lima) told reporters Wednesday he believes the Legislature needs to revisit its higher education bill SB1 (Cirino) and how public colleges and universities are complying with it, saying Rep. Tom Young (R-Washington Twp.) has told him and other House members “some universities are simply ignoring the law.” Young introduced HB698 to ensure compliance with SB1 on Feb. 12, and Huffman was asked about that new bill following Wednesday’s House Rules and Reference Committee meeting. There needs to be a way to “incentivize complying with the law,” Huffman continued, and the steps for that will likely be set out in the committee process. HB698 was referred to the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee as part of Wednesday’s Rules and Reference hearing.

PENSIONS

State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Board Chair Rudy Fichtenbaum breached his fiduciary duty to the pension fund in his dealings with investment firm QED and must be removed from his role, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Karen Phipps wrote in a ruling that also bars any future service for former trustee Wade Steen. Phipps issued the ruling in a case brought by Attorney General Dave Yost, who alleged Steen and Fichtenbaum violated their obligations to the system through backchannel communications with QED officials who were seeking a deal to direct some of STRS’ investment dollars. “The evidence presented revealed that Steen and Fichtenbaum engaged in a course of conduct that demonstrates, at best, a split loyalty between STRS participants and beneficiaries and QED,” Phipps wrote.

WORKFORCE

The Ohio Department of Development (DOD) and Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation recently announced the application window has opened for the current round of the High School Tech Internship Program, which connects students and businesses working in technology fields. The program provides employers with wage reimbursement for high school interns in tech-related roles, fostering recruitment pipelines and giving the students valuable work experience. Reimbursement payments are capped at up to 75 percent and $5,000 per intern, with a requirement that the student worked at least 120 hours and was paid $12 or more per hour. More information is HERE.