[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6469231,"mediaKeyId","5781058-39dbb4f3c5a41df3c42f1edfb7e776b1","parentId",5781058,"title","Talawanda City hears cybersecurity briefing; Ohio law will require formal cyber program by July 2026","audioSeconds",1368,"startMs",1437000,"endMs",2805000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5781058-39dbb4f3c5a41df3c42f1edfb7e776b1&start=1437&end=2805","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5781058-39dbb4f3c5a41df3c42f1edfb7e776b1/thumbnail_1437000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6469231/Ohio/Talawanda-City-hears-cybersecurity-briefing-Ohio-law-will-require-formal-cyber-program-by-July-2026","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6469231-ec53810861c071dd041b59814f16637f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771532603&Signature=XztW9sTF6WT6boLDWU45iC7I7P0jTfg3a6Gf6O0w32vYN77eSfWvli1cx8A3ViYGUN7pT3zgToz5n8YvTxa3KYr00xCIjbOKJeMPPSKHeHhb-TmhePhyw3Pp1j9~m1~7lpNIgMGH~P-Iw4IGn6XPe-uAXVtkrD~~ggeLZIvmgJW~KhIGXkVZxTn96KF9mOLj4pHwzGibmLt3a~s~C5JZzUsy7W6h37zCHBQcuX333k9WqkJ3BKmDn8r6tRQFVMEHNs3W2pxZbqebjY0kSdH~mb0lH3-qmdx-r6N5akJ2Mz8YM9wBQJjHDmdeLIPmsva2dql0VChS4iD4mjWNNIHKhQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Talawanda City","date","2025-09-13T00:16:11.613Z","article","Mark Hopkins, chief technology officer of the Southwest Ohio Computer Association, told the Talawanda City School District board on Sept. 11 that the district must treat cyber security as an ongoing program rather than a one-time project and meet new state reporting and program requirements.

Hopkins, addressing the board and district staff, said Ohio House Bill 96 requires school districts to adopt a formal cyber security framework by July 1, 2026, and triggers new incident-notification deadlines: the Ohio Cyber Incident Center must be notified within seven days of a qualifying event and the state auditor within 30 days. Hopkins also described Senate Bill 29’s data-privacy provisions that expand district obligations when third-party vendors have access to student records.

\"We have to accept that we're never going to be there and we're never going to be done when talking about cyber security,\" Hopkins said, urging the board to plan for continuous improvement rather than a final endpoint.

Why it matters: Hopkins cited national breach data and sector trends to make the case that education remains a high-risk sector for attackers. He told the board that in the report he used, 86% of reported incidents in education led to confirmed breaches, a much higher rate than other sectors. He warned that student personally identifiable information (PII) has long-term value to threat actors because K–12 records can go undetected for years.

Hopkins outlined concrete compliance steps the district must take under HB 96 and related frameworks: update the district incident response plan; assess where data reside (on-premises, cloud, third-party systems); evaluate third-party contracts for required notification and data-protection language; publish district technology providers as required by SB 29; and select and adopt a recognized cyber-security framework before the July 2026 deadline. He also noted that HB 96 creates a new public-records exemption (citing Ohio Revised Code 149.433) for security records and incident details.

District staff presented related policy changes as a first reading. Dr. Bailey said the policy revisions in the board packet largely reflect the 2025 biannual budget bill (House Bill 96) and that the district uses NEOLA policy services for legal updates. \"The majority of the revisions that are in the policy are a reflection of the 2025 budget bill,\" Bailey said during the meeting.

Hopkins stressed the human factor in most successful attacks and recommended role-specific employee training. \"These two things have one thing in common and that they are attacking the weakest element in any cyber security platform. It's not the server... it's us, the human beings,\" he said.

No formal board action to adopt a framework or finalize policy occurred at the Sept. 11 meeting; Hopkins and staff said they will return with draft policy language and implementation steps for board consideration ahead of the July 2026 adoption deadline.

Documents and next steps: Hopkins and staff noted the district already has an incident response plan that needs revision and that NEOLA is preparing policy language aligned with HB 96. Board members asked staff to circulate drafts to the public and return with a recommended framework and timeline.

The presentation and the policy first reading together framed compliance tasks the district must complete to meet state reporting and governance obligations without establishing a final board policy on Sept. 11.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Talawanda Board Meeting - September 11th, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Mark Hopkins, chief technology officer of the Southwest Ohio Computer Association, told the Talawanda City School District board on Sept. 11 that the district must treat cyber security as an ongoing program and meet new Ohio reporting and program requirements under House Bill 96 and Senate Bill 29.","taxTitle","Talawanda City, School Districts, Ohio","taxId",60486,"location","Ohio","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6469221,"Legislative liaison warns federal Medicaid cuts will affect students, schools in Talawanda",405,138000,543000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5781058-39dbb4f3c5a41df3c42f1edfb7e776b1&start=138&end=543","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5781058-39dbb4f3c5a41df3c42f1edfb7e776b1/thumbnail_138000.jpg","/articles/6469221/Ohio/Legislative-liaison-warns-federal-Medicaid-cuts-will-affect-students-schools-in-Talawanda","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6469221-eb7b498636afa4a037af507d5fc82608/orig.mp4?Expires=1771532603&Signature=GF~2rDwRO3k3CqSYlUA6d2fS~-aFIwKC5GV4Go3-9jns4cqm4lBzXh1R9z2Qno17LIml8be94TlYDMUTEEyJz3RmWgWKEQN9QFSenBTv7605exiURHLpjQ0U0AJbrf~fEX53hPaaOgPWWKssLfI-V15i6esFkc8LeQpTEAagBb1s1bcPSmVQ9r5eOl~VJbQmFWslLQndjSovsHfWuocpqb1pWjPDLrB4KMr6U4zGmFybjM6XehiCRXzYAl6Nwa0wZYAUMSunkib6jsu4KzH7q~3qjZ-WlefZLvW6UYNrsR6VyAwyUe-4oMRBTgyzxE6eOvIh~KMaXRJSardp9QUYIg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Mr. Wyatt, the district's legislative liaison, told the Talawanda City School District board on Sept. 11 that reductions to federal Medicaid funding buried within the recent federal budget will have concrete local effects on students and schools.

Wyatt described conversations with district families and used local statistics to illustrate the scope of reliance on Medicaid: \"There are 91,890, roughly, of our neighbors that rely on Medicaid for their healthcare. That's 21% of our population. Of those, 50,000, a little over 50,000 are children,\" he said.

Wyatt framed the policy discussion in human terms, describing families who rely on Medicaid for prescriptions and counseling and warning that coverage loss can cause students to miss school or fall behind academically. \"These Medicaid cuts will force our district to make impossible choices,\" he said, arguing that schools end up absorbing many care responsibilities when Medicaid coverage disappears.

He urged the board and community to communicate concerns to members of Congress and U.S. senators because the funding decision and its rollback of Medicaid coverage are federal choices. Wyatt also connected Medicaid expansion and the Affordable Care Act to support for rural hospitals and said that reductions could imperil local health-care access.

No board action was taken at the Sept. 11 meeting on the matter; Wyatt's remarks were presented as a legislative-update report and a call for public engagement and advocacy.","Talawanda City School District legislative liaison Mr. Wyatt told the board that recent federal budget decisions reduce Medicaid funding and will likely increase student health needs in schools, citing local statistics on Medicaid reliance in Butler County and examples of student health and counseling needs.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6469226,"Talawanda board debates in-house fingerprinting, hiring practices after hiring-related contract termination",591,3281000,3872000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5781058-39dbb4f3c5a41df3c42f1edfb7e776b1&start=3281&end=3872","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5781058-39dbb4f3c5a41df3c42f1edfb7e776b1/thumbnail_3281000.jpg","/articles/6469226/Ohio/Talawanda-board-debates-in-house-fingerprinting-hiring-practices-after-hiring-related-contract-termination","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6469226-ba9b459697c72f251ab4016b493af688/orig.mp4?Expires=1771532603&Signature=o-Qy0bY489OX7P0Vs773maxaBFemWQdXPGUwQeb4nm-RCmjGXsLoyEuMagIe4B6gs5ep38jms9BeIuBlNhwefpL2dVAOd86ruJdarY75yKfGBVlHZB4L1vPSGSFr3hcPxU8zUhgG4dLGzQqM1rO7SHuuaOwYKvYfeD8VOVUcWQlFEe5TDo3uowWu25DzzA0~aPdxkUePDnOn5LoLw0iw4DpHPmcL7wwuf4QlXdhoPvkov9VnEQdvsWQn0irnf3KeELJXbVPiIV48lCYRfadnT5W5sf6krs8vbh~AGCSm2oU7lzkmAIyl~llh-sUhkzUuAOi8c~5mZ4TtC-KjaNLOmw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Talawanda City School District board on Sept. 11 discussed changes to background-check procedures, considered an in-house fingerprinting system and approved personnel and financial items amid a separate vote to terminate one administrator's contracts.

Public comment and a subsequent personnel discussion focused on a district proposal to buy biometric/fingerprint equipment from Biometric Information Management at an upfront cost of $6,500, with an additional stated annual fee of about $800. During public participation a resident introduced the purchase request and a board member moved and seconded the motion to approve the quote; the transcript records the motion and second but does not record a roll-call result for that specific motion in the public portion of the transcript.

Superintendent Dr. Thoreau and other administrators briefed the board on hiring procedures after a recent hiring-related incident. Thoreau described the district's existing steps: use of the Attorney General's web-check fingerprint database, FBI and BCI checks for individuals recognized as school employees, reference checks and a wrap-back notification program intended to alert districts of subsequent disqualifying events. Thoreau told the board the district received no wrap-back notice in this case and said the situation was an \"outlier\" that required additional review and improved processes.

The board voted to terminate all contracts for Dr. Joseph Hall effective immediately. The roll-call vote on the termination showed board members voting yes: Mister Mead, Missus King, Mister Otto, Mister Wyatt and Doctor Howard.

The board also approved grouped financial and personnel agenda items as presented. Roll-call votes recorded for those multi-item approvals show the same roster voting in the affirmative (Otto, White, King, Mead, Howard) when the clerk called the roll on the financial and personnel packages.

Why it matters: Board discussion highlighted trade-offs between speed and due process in hiring. Administrators noted that certified-staff timelines (a July 10 statutory notification tied to certified resignations) create hiring-season pressure that can make waiting for slower background-check results impractical. Board members asked staff to provide a cost estimate for the district to run background checks in-house for classified staff, certified hires and volunteers.

Clarifying details provided at the meeting included the vendor quote ($6,500 purchase; ~$800 annual service fee), typical outside background-check fees (about $55–$80 per check), and an approximate annual district volume mentioned by staff (roughly 200 fingerprint/background checks a year, depending on turnover). Staff said some checks normally clear in a few days to a week; the case that prompted the review took about four weeks to fully resolve.

Next steps: The superintendent agreed to provide board members with a written timeline of the hiring steps and to return next month with cost figures for running background checks in-house (classified, certified and volunteers). Board members discussed possible special sessions to approve late-arriving hires if necessary during the July hiring window.","Board members discussed purchasing an on-site background-check machine and reviewed hiring procedures after personnel issues prompted the immediate termination of an administrator's contracts. The board approved a slate of personnel and financial items; the termination of Dr. Joseph Hall's contracts was carried by recorded roll call.","actionData","errors"]

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Talawanda City hears cybersecurity briefing; Ohio law will require formal cyber program by July 2026

Legislative liaison warns federal Medicaid cuts will affect students, schools in Talawanda

Talawanda board debates in-house fingerprinting, hiring practices after hiring-related contract termination