On January 8, 2025, Governor DeWine signed House Bill 206 (“HB 206”) into law. It permits school districts to establish a policy that authorizes the superintendent to expel a student for up to 180 school days for actions that pose “imminent and severe endangerment” to the health and safety of other students or school employees. That same day, Governor DeWine also signed Senate Bill 208 (“SB 208”) into law which requires districts that entirely prohibit open enrollment, or otherwise only allow open enrollment for students in adjacent districts, to include an exception for military children in their open enrollment policies. The provisions of HB 206 and SB 208 are both set to go into effect on April 9, 2025.

District Expulsion Policies

Current law provides school districts with several options for removing students from a public school for disciplinary reasons, including suspension, expulsion, emergency removal, and permanent exclusion. For the most part, expulsions may be no more than 80 days. HB 206 revises Ohio Revise Code (“R.C.”) § 3313.66 and adds a mechanism for districts to expel a student for up to 180 days for actions that the superintendent determines pose “imminent and severe endangerment” to the health and safety of other pupils or school employees. The bill defines “imminent and severe endangerment” to include any of the following:

Bringing a firearm board property;
Bringing a firearm to an interscholastic competition, extracurricular event, or any other program or activity in which the district is participating;
Bringing a knife capable of causing serious bodily injury on board property or to any event or program in which the district is participating;
Committing an act that is a criminal offense when committed by an adult and that results in serious physical harm to persons or property while the student is on board property or at any event or program in which the district is participating.
Making a bomb threat to a school building or to any premises at which a school activity is occurring at the time of the threat; and
Making an articulated or verbalized threat, including a hit list, threatening manifesto, or social media post, that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the pupil poses a serious threat.

Continued Education for an Expelled Student

If a student is expelled for up to 180 days, the superintendent must develop a plan for the continued education of the student. Options may include, but are not limited to: alternative schools operated by the district, home instruction, and enrollment in another public or nonpublic school. In developing the plan, the superintendent must consult with the student, the student’s parent, and if applicable, the student’s IEP team. For a student who has an IEP, the plan must be developed within fifteen (15) school days of the beginning of the expulsion period or any extended expulsion period. For students not on IEPs, districts have ten (10) school days to develop the plan.

Conditions for Reinstatement and Student Assessment

If a superintendent expels a student under the bill, they are required to develop conditions for the student to satisfy prior to the student being reinstated. Those conditions must be provided in writing to the board of education, the student, and the student’s parent or guardian, at the beginning of the expulsion period. These conditions must include an assessment to determine whether the student poses a danger to themselves, other students, or school employees. The assessment must be conducted by a psychiatrist, licensed psychologist, or licensed school psychologist, who is mutually agreed upon by the superintendent and the student’s parent or guardian. If the individual conducting the assessment is employed or contracted by the district, the district must pay the full cost of the assessment. If the individual is not employed or contracted by the district, the cost of the assessment must be referred to the student’s health insurance, but the district must pay any costs not covered by the student’s health insurance.

Determination of Sufficient Rehabilitation

Prior to the end of the expulsion period, the superintendent must then determine whether the student has shown “sufficient rehabilitation.” This determination may occur at the end of the expulsion period, or at any time it is requested by the student’s parent or guardian. To be deemed sufficiently rehabilitated, the student must have satisfied each of the conditions for reinstatement the superintendent set at the beginning of the expulsion period, and the superintendent must also determine that the student no longer poses a danger to themselves, other students, or other school employees. In making this determination, the superintendent is required to consider the psychological assessment referenced above. Keep in mind that if the superintendent chooses to expel a student for the full 180 days, or extends the expulsion period as discussed below, the decision as to whether the student has been sufficiently rehabilitated must be made with a multidisciplinary team selected by the superintendent.

If the student has been sufficiently rehabilitated, the student is eligible for reinstatement. However, the bill also allows the superintendent to impose conditions for the student to be fully reinstated so long as those conditions are provided to the board, the student, and the student’s parent/guardian in writing. These conditions may include any of the conditions implemented at the beginning of the original expulsion period, as well as any recommendations made in the student’s mental health assessment. Any conditions established by the superintendent shall be for a set duration, which may extend through the student’s date of graduation. If a student violates any of the conditions provided to them, the superintendent may revoke the student’s reinstatement and establish an extended expulsion period up to 90 days.

Extended Expulsion Period(s)

If, instead, the superintendent or team determines the student has not shown “sufficient rehabilitation,” the superintendent may extend the student’s expulsion for up to 90 additional school days. If this occurs, the superintendent must develop a new set of conditions for the student to satisfy before they may be reinstated. These conditions must once again be provided to the board of education, the student, and the student’s parent or guardian, in writing at the beginning of the extended expulsion period. If at the end of the extended expulsion period, the student still has not been deemed sufficiently rehabilitated, the superintendent may extend the expulsion period for another period not to exceed 90 school days. The bill places no limit on the number of times the superintendent may extend a student’s expulsion if they still have not shown sufficient rehabilitation.

Other Considerations for your District

Prior to utilizing the expulsion mechanism established by HB 206, a board of education must adopt a policy that (1) authorizes the superintendent to expel a student for up to 180 days for imminent and severe endangerment; (2) establishes guidelines the superintendent may develop for a student to satisfy prior to their reinstatement; and (3) specifies the reasons by which a superintendent may reduce an expulsion period. The board must also provide the Department of Education and Workforce (“DEW”) records of each expulsion made under the bill.

A student who is expelled under HB 206 is entitled to the same due process as a student subject to any other type of expulsion under current law. This includes notice, hearing and appeal rights, as well as manifestation determinations for students identified as having a disability.

If your district requires assistance in implementing changes to your current expulsion policies to allow for the expulsion of a student for up to 180 days for acts constituting “imminent and severe endangerment,” or if you have any questions or concerns regarding the due process procedures outlined in HB 206, please reach out to your district’s legal counsel.

District Open Enrollment Policies

Under current law, each school district in Ohio is required to establish an interdistrict open enrollment policy that entirely prohibits open enrollment, permits open enrollment for students from adjacent district, or permits open enrollment of students from any other district. SB 208 creates an exception for military children in those districts that either entirely prohibit open enrollment or only accept open enrollment of students from adjacent districts. Specifically, those districts must now amend their policies to permit any student who is not a “native student” (i.e., not a student otherwise entitled to attend school based on their residence in a school district) to enroll tuition free if both of the following apply:

The student’s parent is an active-duty member of the armed forces stationed in the state.
The student’s parent provides to 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.

For purposes of SB 208, an active-duty member of the armed forces means any member of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, who is on full-time duty.

The classification of the student for purposes of enrollment and transportation services will ultimately be dependent on each school district’s open enrollment policy. For example, if a district currently prohibits open enrollment, a student of an active-duty member of the armed forces who is enrolled in the district shall be classified as an “other district student” for purposes of enrollment and transportation. If, however, your district allows students from an adjacent school district to open enroll in your district, then a student of an active-duty member of the armed forces enrolled in the district shall be considered an “adjacent district student” for purposes of enrollment and transportation services.

What this means for your District

School districts should review their current inter-district open enrollment policies to determine whether your district currently prohibits open enrollment or only accepts open enrollment from students in adjacent districts. If so, your district should work to revise those policies to permit students whose parents are active-duty members of the armed forces and stationed in Ohio to enroll in your district on a tuition-free basis. Please reach out to your district’s legal counsel for any support needed to ensure that your district’s open enrollment policies are in compliance with the provisions of SB 208.