OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 208 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 208’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by House Primary and Secondary Education
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Roegner
Effective date:
Rachel Larsen, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
Open enrollment for military children
▪ Requires school districts to include an exception for military children in open enrollment
policies.
Instruction on proper interactions with peace officers
▪ Eliminates laws requiring instruction on proper interactions with peace officers to high
school students and in beginning driver training based on a model curriculum developed
by the Department of Education and Workforce.
School employee child sexual abuse prevention training
▪ Permits, rather than requires, public schools and educational service centers to have law
enforcement officers or prosecutors with relevant experience provide employee
in-service training on child sexual abuse.
Pre-service teacher permits
▪ Permits a pre-service teacher permit to be for one year in duration.
Virtual services under special needs scholarships
▪ Permits educational aides or assistants and instructional assistants to provide services
under the Autism and Jon Peterson Special Needs scholarships virtually.
 This analysis was prepared before the report of the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee
appeared in the House Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
December 11, 2024
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School purchase of technological equipment
▪ Requires each school district and educational service center to seek to meet the varying
and unique needs of students and teachers and consider certain factors when purchasing
technological office equipment.
Regional Partnerships Program
▪ Establishes the Prenatal-to-Five Early Childhood to Post-Secondary Regional Partnerships
Program to support early childhood to post-secondary regional partnerships throughout
Ohio.
Home education learning pods
▪ Defines home education learning pod.
▪ Exempts home education learning pods from child care regulations.
▪ Prohibits a county or township from restricting or limiting the location of home education
learning pods within any district/zone in the county or township.
▪ Prohibits a county or township from imposing additional or more stringent zoning
regulations on a building or residence based solely on its association with or use by a
home education learning pod.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Open enrollment for military children
Under current law, each city, local, and exempted village school district in Ohio must
adopt a resolution establishing an interdistrict open enrollment policy that does one of the
following:1
1. Entirely prohibits open enrollment, with the exception of students who pay tuition;
2. Permits open enrollment only of students from adjacent districts; or
3. Permits open enrollment of students from any other districts.
The bill creates an additional exception that applies to districts that otherwise entirely
prohibit open enrollment or only accept open enrollment of students from adjacent districts. The
bill requires these districts to permit a student who is not a native student of the district to open
enroll in the district if the student’s parent is an active duty member of the armed forces of the
United States who is stationed in Ohio and who provides the district a copy of the parent’s official
written order verifying the parent’s status as an active duty member of the armed forces.2 A
“native student” is a student who is entitled under law, generally based on residence in a school
1 R.C. 3313.98(B)(1).
2 R.C. 3313.98(I)(1).
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district, to attend school in that district.3 Under the bill, an active duty member of the armed
forces is a member of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Corps, or
Coast Guard who is on full-time duty.4
The bill requires districts enrolling a military child under the new exception to comply with
the same procedures required by law for other open enrollments. Additionally, the bill prohibits
districts from charging tuition for military children who enroll under the exception.5
The bill also sets requirements for the classification of students who open enroll in a
district under the bill, for purposes of enrollment reporting and transportation services. If a
student who is not a native student of the district enrolls in a district that otherwise prohibits
open enrollment, then the student must be classified as an “other district student.”6 A student
who is not a native student of the district or an adjacent district and who enrolls in a district with
an open enrollment policy only for students from an adjacent district must be considered an
“adjacent district student” for purposes of enrollment reporting and transportation services.7
Additionally, the bill permits a student enrolled under a district’s open enrollment policy
exception for military children to continue to attend that district and receive transportation
services for the remainder of the school year if the student’s parent is discharged or released
from active duty. It also states that after the conclusion of that school year, that student is not
eligible to attend that district under bill, as long as the student does not have a parent on active
duty.8
Instruction on proper interactions with peace officers
The bill eliminates the provisions of current law that require the following:
1. The Department of Education and Workforce to adopt a model curriculum for high school
students on proper interactions with peace officers during traffic stops and other
encounters;
2. School districts and other public schools to use the Department’s model curriculum in at
least one course required for high school graduation;
3. The Director of Public Safety to adapt the model curriculum for use in driver training
programs and new driver instructional materials.9
3 R.C. 3313.98(A)(2); see also R.C. 3313.64 and 3313.65, not in the bill.
4 R.C. 3313.98(A)(11) and (12).
5 R.C. 3313.98(I)(2).
6 R.C. 3313.98(I)(3); see also R.C. 3313.981, 3315.18, and 3317.03, not in the bill.
7 R.C. 3313.98(I)(4).
8 R.C. 3313.98(I)(5).
9 R.C. 3301.0721, Repeals R.C. 3313.6025 and 4508.022.
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School employee child sexual abuse prevention training
Continuing law requires public schools to adopt a program of in-service training in the
prevention of child abuse, violence, and substance abuse and the promotion of positive youth
development for educators and certain student service providers. The bill permits, instead of
requires as under current law, that delivery of that training be by law enforcement officers or
prosecutors with experience in handling cases involving child sexual abuse or child sexual
violence. The bill also specifies that those law enforcement officers and prosecutors may provide
the training at their own discretion so long as they have the required experience.10
Pre-service teacher permits
The bill allows a pre-service teacher permit to be for one year in duration, in addition to
three years as under continuing law. Under the permit, student teachers may substitute teach
and receive compensation for it. A permit holder may substitute teach for up to one full semester,
and be compensated for that service.11
Virtual services under special needs scholarships
The bill permits educational aides or assistants and instructional assistants to provide
services under the Autism and Jon Peterson Special Needs scholarships virtually. Current law
already permits “qualified, credentialed providers” to provide services virtually.12
It also specifically requires the Department of Education and Workforce to include in its
rules for the Autism scholarship that virtual intervention services may be provided by a qualified,
credentialed provider, including a licensed educator or substitute teacher and specified
credentialed professionals, and requires the Department to adopt the same such rules for the
Jon Peterson Scholarship.13
School purchase of technological equipment
The bill requires each school district board of education and educational service center
governing board to seek to meet the “varying and unique needs of students and teachers” when
purchasing technological office equipment and computer hardware and software. The bill also
requires each board to consider the long-term cost of ownership, flexibility for innovation, and
any anticipated residual or salvage value at the end of the target life cycle.14
Regional Partnerships Program
The bill establishes the Prenatal-to-Five Early Childhood to Post-Secondary Regional
Partnerships Program (“program”) to support existing and establish new early childhood to post-
10 R.C. 3319.073.
11 R.C. 3319.0812.
12 R.C. 3310.41 and 3310.52.
13 R.C. 3310.41 and 3310.64.
14 R.C. 3313.37.
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secondary regional partnerships throughout Ohio in regions that choose to participate. Each
partnership must work collaboratively to increase educational attainment and economic mobility
outcomes for children and adults.
Departmental responsibilities
The bill requires the Department of Education and Workforce and the Department of
Higher Education to create, administer, and oversee the program.15 In so doing, the Departments
must do all of the following:
1. Coordinate and convene a cohort of all existing and emerging regional partnerships at
least quarterly to share best practices and assist in organizational development and
growth;
2. Distribute grants to qualifying partnerships to support regional collaboration programs
that align educational resources and community support with regional in-demand
workforce skills, opportunities, and jobs;
3. Work to ensure that at least one regional partnership exists within each of the six different
regions of the state determined by JobsOhio (the regions are Cleveland (Northeast),
Cincinnati (Southwest), Columbus (Central), Dayton (West), Southeast, and Toledo
(Northwest));16
4. Report the progress and outcomes of each regional partnership at least twice a year to
the Director of Education and Workforce and the Chancellor of Higher Education, and
annually to the Governor and the General Assembly.17
Makeup of a Partnership
Each Partnership may consist of all of the following entities that are located in the same
region:
1. Prenatal-to-five early learning programs;
2. Primary and secondary schools;
3. Educational service centers;
4. Out-of-school time providers;
5. Post-secondary institutions; and
6. Workforce and community partners.18
15 R.C. 3301.85(A).
16 R.C. 187.01, not in the bill. See Explore Our Regions for a description of each region, which is available
at JobsOhio’s website: jobsohio.com.
17 R.C. 3301.85(B).
18 R.C. 3301.85(A).
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Grant eligibility requirements
To apply for grants under the program, a partnership must demonstrate an identified
theory of action and explicit commitment to address all areas of the education and workforce
continuum over time, including a commitment to measure and report targeted attainment
outcome metrics.19 It must also demonstrate how it will (1) integrate and align its work with
business advisory councils, the Educational Regional Service System, industry sector
partnerships, and other regional educational attainment efforts and (2) work with local health
care systems, service providers, and other stakeholders to better address the workforce
readiness, mental health, and well-being skills children and young adults need for success.20
Reporting of performance metrics
Each qualifying partnership must report all of the following performance metrics for the
partnership’s region to the Department of Education and Workforce and the Department of
Higher Education:
1. Kindergarten readiness;
2. Third-grade reading proficiency;
3. Middle grade math proficiency;
4. High school graduation rates;
5. FAFSA completion rates;
6. Post-secondary enrollment;
7. Post-secondary credential or degree completion; and
8. Employment in the region, including the percentage of recent graduates who:
a. Found employment within one year of completing a post-secondary credential or
degree; and
b. Completed some form of work-based learning while enrolled in a post-secondary
institution.21
Home education learning pods
The bill defines a home education learning pod as a voluntary association of parents who
direct their children’s education through home education. Parents participating in a pod choose
to group their children together in a home or other location at various times. This may include
hours when home education is not provided. The pod includes only the parents’ children who
are receiving home education, except that it also may include siblings or other children under the
care of the parents in the pod, regardless of age. The pod is required to have at least one parent
19 R.C. 3301.85(C)(1)(a).
20 R.C. 3301.85(C)(1)(b) and (c).
21 R.C. 3301.85(C)(2).
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of any of the children participating in the pod on the premises while the pod is meeting.22 Under
current law, such arrangements could be considered child care and may be subject to licensure
and regulation as a child care center or family child care home. The bill exempts home education
learning pods from those requirements.23
Zoning
The bill prohibits a county or township from restricting or limiting the location of home
education learning pods within any district/zone in the county or township, and from imposing
additional or more stringent zoning regulations on a building or residence based solely on its
association with or use by a home education learning pod. Counties and townships would still
have the authority to require a building or residence used by a pod to comply with zoning
requirements that would otherwise apply to the building or residence if it was not associated
with or used by a pod.24
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 12-19-23
Reported, S. Education 05-22-24
Passed Senate (31-0) 05-22-24
Reported, H. Primary and Secondary Education ---
ANSB0208RH-135/ts
22 R.C. 5104.01(V).
23 R.C. 5104.02.
24 R.C. 303.215 and 519.215.
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Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 3313.98
As Reported By Senate Committee: 3313.98
As Passed By Senate: 3313.98