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Ohio budget bill prompts wide-ranging changes discussed by Brexville-Broadview Heights leaders
Summary
Superintendent and district staff reviewed provisions of the recently enacted Ohio budget bill (House Bill 96) and discussed potential impacts on local levy cycles, administrative spending limits, teacher assignment rules and several operational policies.
The Brexville-Broadview Heights Board of Education heard an extended briefing July 16 on provisions in the recently enacted Ohio budget bill (referred to in the meeting as House Bill 96) that could change how local districts operate and are funded.
Superintendent Jeff (Superintendent) summarized items that had been included in the budget bill and noted which provisions the governor line-item vetoed. He told the board the district is watching proposals that could be overridden by the Ohio Legislature during special sessions scheduled July 21–22.
Jeff said the vetoed and proposed items span governance, fiscal oversight and operations. Among the provisions he reviewed were a proposed change to require partisan school board elections (the governor vetoed that item), a change to shrink the State Board of Education from 19 to five appointed members, and a proposed 40% carryover cap on district fund balances that would have empowered county budget commissions to order property tax reductions or other relief. The governor vetoed the carryover-cap provision, Jeff said.
Jeff said the budget bill also included a restriction that districts spend no more than 15% of operating budgets on “administrative expenses” (he described ambiguity in what that would include), a move from five-year to three-year forecasting, and changes that would eliminate or alter several levy types (for example, fixed-sum or substitute emergency levies). He told the board those changes, if enacted, could increase how often districts must seek voter approval for local levies.
The superintendent highlighted proposed changes to assignment rights that would require superintendents to assign staff in students’ best interests rather than follow seniority as the controlling factor once existing collective bargaining agreements expire. He described that change as likely to produce significant debate in negotiations.
Other operational items discussed included a requirement for districts to adopt a student cell-phone policy by Jan. 1, 2026 that would prohibit student phone use during the instructional day except for monitoring, health or emergency reasons; a statewide Science of Reading training requirement every five years for certified teachers; limits on religious release time to no more than two periods per week in elementary/middle school equivalents and up to two units of high-school credit per week; elimination of some CTE waivers (requiring middle school CTE offerings); and expanded authority for districts to run or contract online learning schools.
Jeff described several items as poorly worded, particularly the religious-release language and administrative-spending definitions, and said the district will review local policies (including working with its policy vendor Neola) to confirm compliance while protecting local control. He recommended continuing review with legal counsel and peers to clarify operational impacts.
Board members and staff emphasized that many provisions would affect different districts unevenly. Treasurer Craig (Treasurer) and other speakers noted Brexville-Broadview Heights is heavily locally funded and does not currently carry unusually large fund balances. Jeff said some items do not have immediate fiscal effect for the district but would change the tools and timelines districts use for budgeting and levies.
No formal board action was taken on the budget bill briefing; it was presented as information and for possible next steps, including continued monitoring and potential outreach to legislators ahead of override votes.
