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September 15, 2020 On September 14, 2020, Governor DeWine signed Ohio Amended Substitute House Bill 606 (“H.B. 606”) affirming the Ohio Legislature’s extension of qualified civil immunity for COVID-19-related claims. H.B. 606 specifically expands Ohio qualified civil immunity provisions and precludes civil lawsuits for “injury, death, or loss to person or property” when the cause […]
September 4, 2020 The Director of the Ohio Department of Health (“ODH”) issued an order on September 3, 2020 requiring reporting and notification regarding COVID-19 cases in K-12 schools (the “Order”). The Order requires all K-12 schools to maintain a reporting system for parents to report positive tests and/or cases of COVID-19 and encourages parents […]
August 21, 2020 On Tuesday, August 18, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine announced that all sports (both contact and non-contact) would be permitted to move forward this fall. The Order, issued by the Interim Director of the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has been in effect since Wednesday, August 19, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. This development […]
August 17, 2020 The Ohio Department of Health (“ODH”) posted guidance to its website addressing the use of face shields including use in schools. In the ODH Face Shields FAQ, ODH addresses the use of face shields in lieu of masks or cloth face coverings. As addressed in our August 14, 2020 client alert, “Ohio […]
8/14/2020 On August 13, 2020, the Interim Director of the Ohio Department of Health (the “Director”) issued an order requiring use of facial coverings in K-12 schools (“Order”). The Order, which became effective on Friday, August 14, 2020, wields control over any conflicting provisions of the Director’s July 23 statewide mask order and will remain […]
August 4, 2020 On August 1, 2020, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) issued a third Order related to contact sports, which extends the expiration date of its second amended Order. Notably, unlike previous orders that had a set expiration date, the third Order will remain in effect until either the State of Emergency declared […]
July 17, 2020 To assist school districts in developing remote learning plans for the 2020-2021 school year, the Ohio Department of Education recently released guidance addressing student attendance during remote learning activities. At the outset, ODE urges school districts to maintain student and parent contact information, learn about families’ digital access, and build collaboration and […]
Updated: July 23, 2020 *On July 22, 2020, the Ohio Dept. of Health issued a second Order extending the expiration date of the Order below to July 31, 2020. The second Order can be found here. On July 7, 2020, just over three weeks after contact practice for all sports activities and non-contact sport competitions […]
July 6, 2020 On July 2, 2020, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released new guidance regarding the re-opening of schools for the 2020-2021 school year. This guidance, which is titled “COVID-19 Health and Prevention Guidance for Ohio K-12 Schools,” provides five basic guidelines for school districts to […]
June 30, 2020 On June 30, 2020, the Ohio Department of Education announced that preschool students with disabilities who were identified under the category of “developmental delay” for the 2019-2020 school year will be able to transition to kindergarten for the 2020-2021 school year without undergoing an evaluation to determine a school-age disability category. These […]
June 30, 2020 ODE Guidance On June 29, 2020, the Ohio Department of Education issued “COVID-19 Guidance: Data Reporting for Students with Disabilities FAQ.” The guidance addresses EMIS reporting for noncompliance events that occurred due to the COVID-19 school-building closure during the 2019-2020 school year. The bottom line from the guidance is summarized as follows: […]
June 22, 2020 Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed Ohio House Bill 164 (H.B. 164) on Friday, June 19, 2020, also known as the Ohio Student Religious Liberties Act of 2019. In light of the coronavirus pandemic, H.B. 164 goes beyond its religious provisions to also address a variety of issues that Ohio school districts face […]