Bill would create Community Connectors workforce program in schools with $8 million appropriation

Representatives Santucci and Williams presented House Bill 98 to establish a Community Connectors Workforce Program that places job coordinators at regional educational service centers to identify students ready for work, teach soft skills, and connect school districts and students to employers, internships and apprenticeships. Sponsors emphasized coordination with OhioMeansJobs, chambers and private partners such as Junior Achievement.

Program design and funding: HB 98 would be administered by the Department of Education and Workforce with ESCs running local implementation and providing on‑site directors or job coordinators. Sponsors said the bill includes an $8,000,000 appropriation to avoid creating unfunded mandates for local districts and to allow ESCs to hire coordinators, run programming and contract with existing private providers where feasible.

Target population and delivery: Sponsors said the program targets students who want to work and aims to remove barriers (transportation, scheduling) by partnering with local providers. The job coordinator role can expand or integrate existing district personnel where those staff already provide similar supports.

Implementation questions and evidence: Committee members asked whether the role requires teacher certification, whether assessments will be used to identify students, and whether this is a pilot or a statewide mandate. Sponsors described the program as scalable and flexible: ESCs would be required to participate to receive funds, existing programs can count toward requirements, and the model builds off local examples (one high school program reported an 80% job‑placement rate within a year for participating students).

Next steps: Sponsors said the legislation will be refined and that ESCs and local partners will be central to implementation; no vote was taken during the hearing.