As Introduced

134th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 565

2021-2022

A BILL

To amend sections 3301.01, 3301.02, 3301.03, 3301.04, and 3301.06 and to enact section 3301.013 of the Revised Code to add five students as nonvoting members to the State Board of Education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 3301.01, 3301.02, 3301.03, 3301.04, and 3301.06 be amended and section 3301.013 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3301.01. ~~(A)~~(A)(1) There is hereby created the state board of education consisting of nineteen members with eleven elected members, one each to be elected in accordance with section 3301.03 of the Revised Code from each of the districts established in accordance with division (B) of this section, and with eight members to be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate.

(2) In addition to the nineteen elected or appointed voting members, the ~~chairperson~~ following shall serve on the state board:

(a) The chairperson of the committee of the senate that primarily deals with education and the chairperson of the committee of the house of representatives that primarily deals with education, who shall be nonvoting ex officio members of the board;

(b) Beginning on the first day of July that follows the effective date of this amendment, the five students selected under section 3301.013 of the Revised Code, who shall be nonvoting members of the board.

(B)(1) The territory of each state board of education district for each elected voting member of the board shall consist of the territory of three contiguous senate districts as established in the most recent apportionment for members of the general assembly, but the territory of no senate district shall be part of the territory of more than one state board of education district. Each state board of education district shall be as compact as practicable. The districts shall include, when practicable, some districts that primarily consist of territory in rural areas and some districts that primarily consist of territory in urban areas.

(2) If, after the apportionment for members of the general assembly is made in any year, the general assembly does not during that year enact legislation establishing state board of education districts in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section, the governor shall designate the boundaries of the districts in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section no later than the thirty-first day of January of the year next succeeding such apportionment. Upon making such designation, the governor shall give written notice of the boundaries of the districts to each member of the state board of education, including the nonvoting ex officio members; the superintendent of public instruction; the president of the senate; the speaker of the house of representatives; and the board of elections of each county in each new district. On the first day of February in any year in which the governor designates the boundaries of state board of education districts under this section, the state board of education districts as they existed prior to that date shall cease to exist and the new districts shall be created.

Sec. 3301.013. (A) As used in this section, "public school" means any of the following:

(1) A school operated by a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district;

(2) A community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code that is not an internet- or computer-based community school;

(3) A STEM school established under Chapter 3326. of the Revised Code;

(4) A college preparatory boarding school established under Chapter 3328. of the Revised Code.

(B) Beginning on the effective date of this section, the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the broadcast educational media commission, shall develop a process by which schools may nominate students and the state superintendent and commission shall select five students to serve as nonvoting members on the state board of education beginning on the first day of July that follows the effective date of this section. The process developed under this section shall:

(1) Require the establishment of five regions from which to select one student, each to serve as a nonvoting member of the state board;

(2) Require at least three of the students selected as state board members under this section to be enrolled in a public school;

(3) Require as a condition of eligibility for nomination that students either:

(a) Be enrolled in a public or chartered nonpublic high school;

(b) Be at least thirteen years of age and enrolled in an early college high school program established under section 3313.6013 of the Revised Code.

(4) Require a procedure by which to fill a vacancy of a student member of the state board;

(5) Require the establishment of a rotation schedule to ensure that at least one student member attends each state board meeting.

(C) The state superintendent, in consultation with the commission, shall adopt rules as necessary for the development and implementation of the process prescribed by this section.

Sec. 3301.02. (A) Elected voting members of the state board of education shall be elected as required by expiration of respective terms, each for a term of four years or until a successor is elected and qualified. One elected member shall be elected from each district respectively in which the term of office of a board member expires on the first day of January following the election. The term of office of each member so elected shall begin on the first day of January immediately following this election.

(B) At any time the boundaries of state board of education districts are changed under division (B) of section 3301.01 of the Revised Code, a member of the state board whose term will not expire within two years of the time the change in boundaries is made shall represent, for the remainder of the term for which the member was elected, the state board district containing the largest portion of the population of the district from which the member was elected. If more than one member whose term will not so expire would represent the same district under the provisions of this section, either the general assembly, if the general assembly enacted legislation establishing those districts under division (B)(2) of section 3301.01 of the Revised Code, or the governor, if the governor designated the ~~bounderies~~ boundaries of the districts under that division, shall designate which member shall represent each district for the balance of the members' terms.

~~(C)~~(C)(1) Appointed voting members of the board shall serve four-year terms beginning the first day of January and ending on the thirty-first day of December. Except as provided in division (D) of this section, members may be reappointed.

(2) Student nonvoting members of the board selected under section 3301.013 of the Revised Code shall serve two-year terms beginning on the first day of July and ending on the thirtieth day of June.

(D) No person, elected or appointed, shall hold the office of member of the state board of education for a period of longer than two successive terms of four years. Terms shall be considered successive unless separated by a period of four or more years. Only terms beginning on or after January 1, 1996, shall be considered in determining an individual's eligibility to hold office.

Sec. 3301.03. Each elected voting member of the state board of education shall be a qualified elector residing in the territory composing the district from which the member is elected, and shall be nominated and elected to office as provided by Title XXXV of the Revised Code. Each appointed voting member of the board shall be a qualified elector residing in the state. At least four of the appointed voting members shall represent rural school districts in the state, as evidenced by the member's current place of residence and at least one of the following:

(A) The member's children attend, or at one time attended, school in a rural district;

(B) The member's past or present occupation is associated with rural areas of the state;

(C) The member possesses other credentials or experience demonstrating knowledge and familiarity with rural school districts.

No elected or appointed voting member of the board shall, during the member's term of office, hold any other office of trust or profit or be an employee or officer of any public or private elementary or secondary school. Before entering on the duties of office, each elected and appointed voting member shall subscribe to the official oath of office.

Each voting member of the state board of education shall be paid a salary fixed pursuant to division (J) of section 124.15 of the Revised Code, together with the member's actual and necessary expenses incurred while engaged in the performance of the member's official duties or in the conduct of authorized board business, and while en route to and from the member's home for such purposes.

Each student member selected under section 3301.013 of the Revised Code shall be paid actual and necessary expenses incurred while en route to and from the member's home for official duties or authorized board business of the board.

(D) As used in this section only, "office of trust or profit" means:

(1) A federal or state elective office or an elected office of a political subdivision of the state;

(2) A position on a board or commission of the state that is appointed by the governor;

(3) An office set forth in section 121.03, 121.04, or 121.05 of the Revised Code;

(4) An office of the government of the United States that is appointed by the president of the United States.

Sec. 3301.04. Between the first and thirty-first day of January of each odd-numbered year, the state board of education shall hold an organization meeting at which time it shall adopt rules of procedure, elect a president and a vice-president each of whom shall serve for two years or until the president's or vice-president's successor is elected and qualified, and transact such business as the board deems advisable.

The state board of education shall adopt, by the thirty-first day of March each year, a calendar indicating the dates on which the board will hold its regular meetings for the following fiscal year. The board may hold special meetings on dates not indicated on the adopted calendar at such times as they may be called as provided in this section. Special meetings of the board may be called by the president, and, upon written request signed by at least a majority of the members, the president shall call a special meeting of the board. The president, or the president's designee, shall give notice through the superintendent of public instruction to each member of the board at least ten days prior to the time of any special meeting. The notice may be delivered by regular mail or by electronic means. The state board of education shall hold its meetings anywhere in Ohio designated by the board.

Only one student member of the board selected under section 3301.013 of the Revised Code, at a time, shall be required to attend each meeting of the state board.

Sec. 3301.06. A vacancy in the state board of education may be caused by death, nonresidence, resignation, removal from office, failure of a person elected to qualify within ten days after the organization of the board or of the person's election, removal from the district of election or from residence in the state, or absence from any two consecutive regular meetings of the board if such absence is caused by reasons declared insufficient by a vote of twelve members of the board. When a vacancy occurs in the office of an elected member, the governor shall, within a period of thirty days and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint a qualified person residing in the district in which the vacancy occurred to fill the vacancy until the next general election at which members of the state board of education are elected, at which time a qualified elector residing in the district in which the vacancy occurred shall be elected for the unexpired term. Such member shall assume office at the next succeeding meeting of the board. When a vacancy occurs in the office of an appointed voting member, the governor shall, within a period of thirty days and with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint a qualified person to serve the remainder of the term. When a vacancy occurs in the office of a student member selected under section 3301.013 of the Revised Code, the vacancy shall be filled in the manner developed by the superintendent of public instruction as prescribed under that section.

Section 2. That existing sections 3301.01, 3301.02, 3301.03, 3301.04, and 3301.06 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.