Mercer County, OH (WLIO) - Members of local school boards got an update on what is going on down at the statehouse. The Northwest Region of the Ohio School Board Association held an informal meeting at Tri Star Career Compact to talk about some changes that school districts will see this fall from the passage of the Education Omnibus Bill that was passed in June. The bill continues the flexibility for schools to employ substitute teachers according to their own education requirements and it pushes back the mandatory Dyslexia testing for elementary students by one year. Plus, there are funding available to school district from the latest capital budget. With this being a state election year, the Ohio School Board Association urges its members to get to know the State Senate and Representative candidates on the ballot.
“With term limits, there is a lot of open seats and so we know that there will be new legislators that will be coming in in January,” says Nicole Piscitani, Lobbyist for the Ohio School Board Association. “So, it is important that, especially with the Fair School Funding Plan, that they understand what the difference that funding plan model was compared to other years. It has made a lot of changes, so it is important that they continue to talk about what it did and how it helps fund public education.”
One upcoming bill that is being looked at by the Ohio Senate is the dropping the requirement that students must be proficient in reading by the 3rd grade to move on to the 4th grade. The Ohio House has already passed the bill by a margin of 80 to 10.
