OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 353 Bill Analysis
134th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 353’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by Senate Workforce & Higher Education
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Click and Miranda
Effective Date:
Allison Schoeppner, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
 Requires each state institution of higher education to adopt a policy that reasonably
accommodates the sincerely held religious beliefs and practices of students regarding
exams, other academic requirements, and absences for reasons of faith or religious or
spiritual belief system.
 Entitles the bill “The Testing Your Faith Act.”
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Policy to accommodate sincerely held religious beliefs
The bill requires each state institution of higher education to adopt a policy that
reasonably accommodates the sincerely held religious beliefs and practice of students
regarding exams, other academic requirements, and absences for reasons of faith or religious
or spiritual belief system.1
Absences and alternative accommodations
An institution’s policy must permit a student to be absent for up to three days each
academic semester to take holidays for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief system or
to participate in organized activities conducted under the auspices of a religious denomination,
 This analysis was prepared before the report of the Senate Workforce and Higher Education
Committee appeared in the Senate Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
1 R.C. 3345.024.
December 14, 2022
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
church, or other religious or spiritual organization. The institution is prohibited from imposing
an academic penalty as a result of a student’s absence under the policy.2
The policy also must require that students who miss exams and other academic
requirements as a result of such absences be provided with alternative accommodations, if:
1. The student’s sincerely held religious belief or practice severely affects the student’s
ability to take an exam or meet an academic requirement; and
2. Within 14 days after the first day of instruction in a course, the student provides the
instructor with written notice of the specific dates for which the student requests
alternative accommodations.3
Instructor responsibilities
Under the bill, an instructor must accept without question the sincerity of a student’s
religious or spiritual belief system and keep requests for alternative accommodations
confidential. An instructor also must schedule a time and date for an alternative exam, which
may be before or after the time and date the exam or other academic requirement was
originally scheduled. The bill states that the instructor must schedule the alternative exam
without prejudicial effect.4
In addition, instructors must include in each course syllabus a statement regarding the
institution’s policy. That statement must include a description of the general procedure for
requesting accommodations and contact information for an individual whom a student may
contact for more information about the policy.5
Posting the policy
An institution must post in a prominent location on its website:
1. A copy of the policy, including the contact information of an individual who can provide
further information about it; and
2. A nonexhaustive list of major religious holidays or festivals for the next two academic
years. The Chancellor of Higher Education must provide each institution with such a list
at the beginning of each academic year, and each institution may decide whether to
post the Chancellor’s list or select which holidays to include.
The bill requires each institution to include a statement with the posted, printed, or
published policy that the list is nonexhaustive and cannot be used to deny accommodation to a
student for a holiday or festival of the student’s faith or religious or spiritual belief system that
does not appear on the list. Nothing in a school’s policy or list, such as the inclusion or exclusion
2 R.C. 3345.024(A).
3 R.C. 3345.024(B)(1).
4 R.C. 3345.024(B)(2).
5 R.C. 3345.024(D).
P a g e |2 H.B. 353
As Reported by Senate Workforce and Higher Education
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
of a religious holiday or festival, may be used to deny full and reasonable accommodations to a
student for any sincerely held religious belief or practice with regard to all examinations or
other academic requirements and absences for reasons of faith or religious or spiritual belief
system.6
Grievance procedure
The bill requires an institution’s policy to include a procedure under which a student
may notify the institution of any grievance regarding the policy’s implementation.7
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 06-17-21
Reported, H. Higher Education & Career Readiness 04-06-22
Passed House (88-1) 05-18-22
Reported, S. Workforce & Higher Education --
ANHB0353RS-134/ts
6 R.C. 3345.024(C).
7 R.C. 3345.024(E).
P a g e |3 H.B. 353
As Reported by Senate Workforce and Higher Education