To amend sections 3301.0732 and 3313.48 of the Revised Code regarding the minimum number of hours in a school year.
Summary
HB145 would revise Ohio’s minimum instructional-hour requirements for both school districts and nonchartered nonpublic schools. The bill changes the required annual attendance time from the current lower thresholds to 455 hours for kindergarten, 963 hours for grades 1-6, and 1,154 hours for grades 7-12, while preserving existing exceptions and counting rules for things like parent-teacher conferences, teacher professional meetings, and short recess periods. It also keeps the existing framework that excludes lunch, breakfast, and extracurricular activities from the instructional-hour calculation.
For public school districts, the bill would continue to require public hearings on school calendars and would maintain restrictions on reducing annual instructional hours below the prior year without board approval. It also preserves and restates consultation and notice requirements when districts change schedules in ways that affect joint vocational school districts, community schools, or chartered nonpublic schools that receive district transportation. The bill further clarifies that the Department of Education and Workforce may not impose on chartered nonpublic schools the same procedural requirements that apply to school districts under the calendar and scheduling provisions.
Impact
HB145 would amend Revised Code sections 3301.0732 and 3313.48, directly affecting the minimum school-year hours for public schools, chartered nonpublic schools, and nonchartered nonpublic schools in Ohio. It would set a uniform statewide floor for instructional time by grade band and preserve related procedural obligations for school calendars, schedule changes, and transportation coordination with community schools, joint vocational schools, and chartered nonpublic schools. The bill would also continue to exempt nonchartered nonpublic schools from transportation and auxiliary-service entitlements and would maintain the Department’s limited authority over those schools.
Sentiment
Because the bill was only introduced and there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes in the provided materials, there is no documented floor or committee sentiment to measure. Based on the text alone, the bill appears to be a technical education-policy measure focused on school calendar and attendance-hour requirements rather than a broad ideological change. The available context does not show formal support or opposition, but the inclusion of multiple cosponsors suggests at least some initial legislative interest.
Contention
The main potential points of contention are the increased minimum instructional-hour requirements and the administrative burden of calendar and scheduling compliance. School districts and nonpublic schools may view the higher hour thresholds as limiting flexibility in setting calendars, while transportation-dependent entities such as community schools, joint vocational districts, and chartered nonpublic schools may be concerned about the notice and coordination requirements for schedule changes. Another possible issue is the bill’s treatment of nonchartered nonpublic schools, which preserves state oversight over minimum standards while continuing to exclude them from transportation and auxiliary-service benefits.