(A) The board of education of each city, exempted village, local, and joint vocational school district shall provide for the free education of the youth of school age within the district under its jurisdiction, at such places as will be most convenient for the attendance of the largest number thereof. Each school so provided and each chartered nonpublic school shall be open for instruction with pupils in attendance, including scheduled classes, supervised activities, and approved education options but excluding lunch and breakfast periods and extracurricular activities, for not less than four hundred fifty-five hours in the case of pupils in kindergarten unless such pupils are provided all-day kindergarten, as defined in section 3321.05 of the Revised Code, in which case the pupils shall be in attendance for nine hundred ten hours; nine hundred ten hours in the case of pupils in grades one through six; and one thousand one hours in the case of pupils in grades seven through twelve in each school year, which may include all of the following:

(1) Up to the equivalent of two school days per year during which pupils would otherwise be in attendance but are not required to attend for the purpose of individualized parent-teacher conferences and reporting periods;

(2) Up to the equivalent of two school days per year during which pupils would otherwise be in attendance but are not required to attend for professional meetings of teachers ;

(3) Morning and afternoon recess periods of not more than fifteen minutes duration per period for pupils in grades kindergarten through six.

(B) Not later than thirty days prior to adopting a school calendar, the board of education of each city, exempted village, and local school district shall hold a public hearing on the school calendar, addressing topics that include, but are not limited to, the total number of hours in a school year, length of school day, and beginning and end dates of instruction.

(C) No school operated by a city, exempted village, local, or joint vocational school district shall reduce the number of hours in each school year that the school is scheduled to be open for instruction from the number of hours per year the school was open for instruction during the previous school year unless the reduction is approved by a resolution adopted by the district board of education. Any reduction so approved shall not result in fewer hours of instruction per school year than the applicable number of hours required under division (A) of this section.

(D) Prior to making any change in the hours or days in which a high school under its jurisdiction is open for instruction, the board of education of each city, exempted village, and local school district shall consider the compatibility of the proposed change with the scheduling needs of any joint vocational school district in which any of the high school's students are also enrolled. The board shall consider the impact of the proposed change on student access to the instructional programs offered by the joint vocational school district, incentives for students to participate in career-technical education, transportation, and the timing of graduation. The board shall provide the joint vocational school district board with advance notice of the proposed change and the two boards shall enter into a written agreement prescribing reasonable accommodations to meet the scheduling needs of the joint vocational school district prior to implementation of the change.

(E) Prior to making any change in the hours or days in which a school under its jurisdiction is open for instruction, the board of education of each city, exempted village, and local school district shall consider the compatibility of the proposed change with the scheduling needs of any community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code to which the district is required to transport students under sections 3314.09 and 3327.01 of the Revised Code. The board shall consider the impact of the proposed change on student access to the instructional programs offered by the community school, transportation, and the timing of graduation. The board shall provide the sponsor, governing authority, and operator of the community school with advance notice of the proposed change, and the board and the governing authority, or operator if such authority is delegated to the operator, shall enter into a written agreement prescribing reasonable accommodations to meet the scheduling needs of the community school prior to implementation of the change.

(F) Prior to making any change in the hours or days in which the schools under its jurisdiction are open for instruction, the board of education of each city, exempted village, and local school district shall consult with the chartered nonpublic schools to which the district is required to transport students under section 3327.01 of the Revised Code and shall consider the effect of the proposed change on the schedule for transportation of those students to their nonpublic schools. The governing authority of a chartered nonpublic school shall consult with each school district board of education that transports students to the chartered nonpublic school under section 3327.01 of the Revised Code prior to making any change in the hours or days in which the nonpublic school is open for instruction.

(G) The state board of education shall not adopt or enforce any rule or standard that imposes on chartered nonpublic schools the procedural requirements imposed on school districts by divisions (B), (C), (D), and (E) of this section.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. 25, HB 59, §101.01, eff. 7/1/2014.

Effective Date: 06-10-1987 .

Related Legislative Provision: See 130th General Assembly File No. 25, HB 59, §803.60.