Ohio Senate bill could put school reopening decision back in local boards' hands

A bill in the Ohio Senate Education Committee looks to leave reopening school buildings for the upcoming academic year up to local districts. Senate Bill 320, introduced earlier this month, would bar public officials from preventing a school district — be it public, private or charter — from opening its doors for the 2020-21 school year. It comes in response to Gov. Mike DeWine and former state Health Director Dr. Amy Acton closing schools across the state at the tail end of last school year after a state of emergency was declared. Its sponsorship splits down party lines, with 16 of the chamber's 24 Republicans signing on as co-sponsors to Sen. Matt Huffman's, R-Lima, text. One of those is Sen. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville. Manning said he reached out to local superintendents and Lorain County Educational Service Center Superintendent Franco Gallo before supporting the bill. The concern, for some, is whether superintendents and their elected school boards are qualified to decide if it is safe to reopen buildings in the fall. During a hearing Wednesday, Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, said administrators and educators should be given the flexibility to make a plan that best meets their students' needs, but a minimum should be laid out by the state's health department. "While OEA supports local control, we also support the authority of the governor and public health officials to make decisions that are data-driven and scientifically-based to keep our students and educators safe," DiMauro said. His testimony touched off an exchange with Sens. Bill Coley, R-Liberty Township, and Andrew Brenner, R-Powell about local control. Coley argued DiMauro's support of local control was a contradiction to his support for the health director being able to "control the entire state." DiMauro disagreed, stating the education association believes there should be a large degree of local control, but the standards for reopening schools should be driven by public health experts. Brenner asked why DiMauro wouldn't trust a local school board to follow advice from local health departments without requiring an edict. DiMauro said the issue isn't trust, but an "understanding of who is best positioned to make critical decisions in the midst of a global pandemic." While pushing for local control in reopening schools, the bill does not address what that decision could look like for the three districts under state purview. Lorain, Youngstown and East Cleveland's locally elected school boards' sole power is to place levies on the ballot, the rest of the authority lies with their Academic Distress Commissions and CEOs. It is unclear — if passed — if the decision to reopen would lie with those districts' CEOs or their Academic Distress Commissions. Manning said he wasn't worried about the schools in his district — as they already consult with Lorain County Public Health Director Dave Covell weekly — but understands where a rogue board elsewhere in the state could pose a health hazard. "I understand there might be outlier superintendents or school board(s) that may be out there that doesn't take the proper precautions or listen to the experts in health care, so you want some of those safeguards there too and I think we're working on that on the bill," Manning said. One potential safeguard, brought up during Wednesday's meeting, could require a local school board to base its decision off guidance from the Public Health District it is in — rather than a one-size-fits-all mandate from the state level. Manning said the goal from the state is guidelines, not mandates. "I certainly love input from the state and from experts in the field, but I've always advocated for — whether that's in the Lorain situation or other situations — always advocated for local control. They know how to deal with their districts the best. … It has nothing to do with the governor or Dr. Acton or anybody else. It has to do with our great superintendents and our great ESC." Acton resigned as the state health director while facing a backlash against the lockdown pandemic response. She, along with Gov. DeWine, have faced several lawsuits — most recently from daycares — resulting from orders given during the shutdown and reopening of the state's industries. To date, none of those lawsuits have been from school districts. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.