Week in Review 8-26-24

Week in Review > Week in Review 8-26-24

Posted by Buckeye Association of School Administrators on August 26th, 2024

BALLOT ISSUES

The Ohio Ballot Board approved language Friday, Aug. 16 for the proposed redistricting amendment now known as Issue 1. The language largely reflected a draft circulated by Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office and drew strong opposition from board Democrats and the campaign group behind the amendment, Citizens Not Politicians. The only change made from the draft was one suggested by Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green), who moved a change to the description of the proposed redistricting commission stating it would “gerrymander” boundaries rather than “manipulate” them. Citizens Not Politicians immediately vowed to sue and followed through Monday with a challenge in the Ohio Supreme Court, arguing the board approved the “most biased, inaccurate, deceptive and unconstitutional ballot language ever adopted.”

EDUCATION

A State Board of Education (SBOE) request for emergency funding to stabilize the Teacher Certification and Licensure Fund was granted and then some by the Controlling Board on Monday. Following a heated debate on the funds, the Controlling Board approved over $4.66 million to support SBOE operations, more than 250 percent of the board’s original request. House Democrats applauded the decision, saying it would “ensure that Ohio’s educators are not subjected to an excessive and burdensome increase in license fees in the near future.” SBOE had submitted a request for $1.85 million to the Controlling Board before Monday for emergency funding to shore up a deficit the board had projected for FY25. SBOE Superintendent Paul Craft called that request the Office of Budget and Management (OBM)’s attempt to ask for the smallest amount they possibly could after helping SBOE assemble its budget.

The coalition of Ohio school districts challenging the constitutionality of EdChoice no longer seek to question Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) about his meetings and communications on state budget voucher expansion. Their bid to depose or otherwise question him spawned a separate legal battle now in the hands of the Ohio Supreme Court. Bill Phillis, a key figure behind both this litigation and the landmark DeRolph school funding case, told Hannah News the coalition’s attorneys decided anything learned from Huffman at this point would not have much bearing on the case.

While lawmakers granted the State Board of Education substantially more bridge funding than requested Monday, Superintendent Paul Craft said Tuesday he’s not ready to relax. The Monday decision of the Controlling Board, in which members boosted a $1.8 million funding request to $4.6 million, “doesn’t really change anything” about how he’ll work to manage the agency budget, Craft told Hannah News in a phone interview. “We’re not going to bring back any of those [staff] positions. We’re going to continue with the commitments we made in the last couple meetings in terms of travel restrictions. We’re operating under emergency purposes funds, so we’re going to continue to run in that way,” he said.

Greg Johnson, principal of West Liberty-Salem High School, was recently elected to the board of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the association announced.

As they work toward a November trial date, litigants in the fight over Ohio’s EdChoice program are exchanging a flurry of motions on whether and to what degree the judge should consider expert research on school finance and other matters. A coalition of school districts is suing the state over EdChoice, arguing it violates the constitutional requirement to provide a “common” school system and the prohibition on giving control of education funding to religious sects. The state is defending the law, and a group of families whose children attend school using EdChoice vouchers convinced the Franklin County Common Pleas Court to make them parties to the case so they could defend the program as well. Both sides recently filed motions for summary judgement. The trial is scheduled for November. The plaintiff districts are challenging the state’s and intervening families’ reliance on experts Stephane Lavertu, Lee Strang, Benjamin Scafidi and Patrick Wolf. They recently filed motions asking Judge Jaiza Page to strike from the record affidavits and reports from the four and exclude some of them as expert witnesses.

ELECTIONS 2024

The Ohio Republican Party (ORP) has endorsed all Republican state legislative candidates on the November ballot except House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill). ORP Executive Director Cameron Sagester told Hannah News that the ORP State Central Committee considered endorsement recommendations from both the Ohio Republican Senate Campaign Committee (RSCC) and Ohio House Republican Alliance (OHRA). Sagester said ORP recognizes Rep. Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) as the leader of OHRA, although the battle over the House GOP campaign fund is ongoing in court. Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark Serrott handed control of the fund to Plummer in June, but the 10th District Court of Appeals stayed that ruling in July. Sagester said Plummer’s suggested list included all House Republicans except Stephens, and the committee ultimately decided to approve that slate. A motion to include Stephens on the slate was voted down, Sagester said. “It was clear based on the voice vote that the list that Rep. Plummer had presented had the support,” Sagester said

GAMING/GAMBLING

Ohio’s sportsbooks raked in significantly more revenue in June 2024 than they did in June 2023, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC). Total taxable revenue from sports betting in June 2024 was $51.3 million, up from $32.8 million in June 2023.

Ohio Lottery ticket sales and video lottery terminal (VLT) revenues at the state’s seven racinos were down in July 2024, according to data provided by the Ohio Lottery Commission (OLC). Total traditional Ohio Lottery ticket sales for July 2024 were $351.1 million, down from $408.9 million in July 2023. Draw-based game sales were $156.4 million in July 2024, down from $214.3 million in July 2023. Net scratch-off ticket sales totaled $194.7 million in July 2024, up from $194.6 million in July 2023. The VLTs at Ohio’s seven racinos pulled in $115.4 million in July 2024, down from $117.5 million in July 2023.

The Ohio Casino Control Commission did not take any official actions on its agenda Tuesday due to lack of a quorum. A spokeswoman for the commission said the agenda items, which include consideration of a casino gaming license for Central Ohio Gaming Ventures, a fantasy contest operator license for Yahoo Fantasy Sports LLC, and sports gaming suppliers Sports IG Analytics and Oddin.gg US, will be delayed until the September meeting, currently scheduled for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept 18.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

The Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) recently released its FY24 annual report, detailing what the agency has done in the past year to support Ohioans with developmental disabilities. DODD reports that the FY24-25 operating budget, HB33 (Edwards), addressed the development disability system’s “most pressing issue” – a workforce shortage. The budget invested “a historic” $1.3 billion into provider rates to allow direct support professionals (DSPs) to be paid more. DSPs wages were an average of $11.12 in 2019 but are now an average of $18 per hour, according to the report.

Panelists and speakers at the Health Policy Institute of Ohio’s (HPIO) Wednesday forum described glaring inequities and disparities in access to care and health outcomes for rural Ohioans. Premature deaths, meaning deaths among those under the age of 75, have increased statewide over the last decade, but more so in rural areas and particularly in Appalachian regions. The speakers at Wednesday’s virtual forum pointed to a slew of public health factors creating the disparities in rural and Appalachian communities, including financial headwinds at many rural hospitals and social determinants of health like higher rates of poverty.

The state of Ohio will receive over $700,000 for lead testing and remediation in schools and child care facilities following the announcement Thursday of over $26 million in grant funding to 55 U.S. states and territories from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

HIGHER EDUCATION

Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) and the Constructive Dialogue Institute (CDI) have established a partnership to provide evidence-based civil discourse training to all OWU students, faculty and staff, the university announced Thursday. “Ohio Wesleyan is CDI’s most comprehensive liberal arts partner, creating a collaboration that is groundbreaking in higher education,” OWU President Matt vandenBerg said in a news release. “Our entire campus is all-in on this effort. The current state of our world required bold action, and we took it. We look forward to working with the Constructive Dialogue Institute to spearhead meaningful change in civil discourse.”

PENSIONS

The State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) of Ohio Board on Friday, Aug. 16 appointed Michael Harkness to fill the remainder of Steven Foreman’s term on the board. Foreman resigned after the June board meeting, citing his retirement as an active teacher. Harkness and former STRS Board member Arthur Lard were both considered for the seat, with Harkness receiving six votes and Lard getting one. The board also voted on Friday to extend the paid administrative leave of STRS Executive Director William Neville.

TAXATION

In a politically mixed decision, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled Tuesday that counties’ right to appeal Ohio Department of Taxation’s (ODT) determinations under R.C. 5717.02(A) to the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals (BTA), and ultimately to the courts, does not apply to arms-length settlement agreements between the tax commissioner and public utility owners of capitalized infrastructure — a sector in which intervenors appeal settlements between state regulators and utilities all the time.