Outline of the state of Ohio
State
Ohio
Encouraged

Category
Parent Supports and Education Programs

Category
Parent Supports and Education Programs

State law encourages districts to implement parent education or support programs to address family needs.

Ohio Administrative Code 3301-47-01. Establishment of an education program for parents of truant students.

(A) For purposes of this rule “Parent” means “parent”, “guardian,” or “other person having charge or care of a child” as defined in section 3321.01 of the Revised Code. (B) When an educational program has been established under division (B) of section 3321.19 of the Revised Code, the program shall address the following topics: (1) Compulsory school laws, including sections 3321.01, 3321.02, 3321.03, and 3321.04 of the Revised Code; (2) Overview of school opportunities and options including positive approaches for addressing the identified social, emotional, and academic needs of the student; (3) Impacts of frequent absences on college and workforce readiness; and, (4) Other topics determined necessary by the district in collaboration with community partners. (C) If the local board of education adopts an education program, it shall be reviewed at least every five years by such body. (D) For the sole purpose of developing the education program, the local board of education shall establish an education program committee. Committee members may include, but are not limited to, a parent, a member of the board of education, a member of the local juvenile judicial system, a guidance counselor, a school psychologist, an attendance officer, a teacher, a principal, or a superintendent. (E) When determining whether a parent of a student who is habitually truant, as that term is defined in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code, should be referred to an education program, consideration shall be given to the student’s academic record, discipline record, and cooperation of the parent.

Policy Type
Regulation

Ohio Revised Code 3313.663 Parental education or training program requirements.

(A) The board of education of a city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or cooperative education school district may adopt a policy requiring the parent or guardian of any student who is suspended or expelled by the district under section 3313.66 of the Revised Code to attend a parental education or training program provided by the district. (B) The board of education of a city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or cooperative education school district may adopt a policy requiring the parent or guardian of any student of the district who is truant or habitually absent from school to attend a parental education or training program provided by the district. The policy shall specify what constitutes truancy and habitual absence for purposes of the policy. (C) If a board of education adopts a policy under this section, the board shall post the policy in a central location in each school building of the district and make it available to students and their parents or guardians upon request.

Policy Type
Statute

Ohio Revised Code 3321.19 Truancy; actions directed at parent, guardian or responsible person.

(A) As used in this section and section 3321.191 of the Revised Code, “habitual truant” has the same meaning as in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code. (B) When a board of education of any city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or cooperative education school district or the governing board of any educational service center determines that a student in its district has been truant and the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child has failed to cause the student’s attendance at school, the board may require the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child pursuant to division (B) of this section to attend an educational program established pursuant to rules adopted by the state board of education for the purpose of encouraging parental involvement in compelling the attendance of the child at school. No parent, guardian, or other person having care of a child shall fail without good cause to attend an educational program described in this division if the parent, guardian, or other person has been served notice pursuant to division (C) of this section. (C) On the request of the superintendent of schools, the superintendent of any educational service center, the board of education of any city, exempted village, local, joint vocational, or cooperative education school district, or the governing board of any educational service center or when it otherwise comes to the notice of the attendance officer or other appropriate officer of the school district, the attendance officer or other appropriate officer shall examine into any case of supposed truancy within the district and shall warn the child, if found truant, and the child’s parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child, in writing, of the legal consequences of being truant. When any child of compulsory school age, in violation of law, is not attending school, the attendance or other appropriate officer shall notify the parent, guardian, or other person having care of that child of the fact, and require the parent, guardian, or other person to cause the child to attend school immediately. The parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child shall cause the child’s attendance at school. Upon the failure of the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child to do so, the attendance officer or other appropriate officer, if so directed by the superintendent, the district board, or the educational service center governing board, shall send notice requiring the attendance of that parent, guardian, or other person at a parental education program established pursuant to division (B) of this section and, subject to divisions (D) and (E) of this section, may file a complaint against the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child in any court of competent jurisdiction. (D) (1) Upon the failure of the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child to cause the child’s attendance at school, if the child is considered an habitual truant, the board of education of the school district or the governing board of the educational service center, within ten days, subject to division (E) of this section, shall assign the student to an absence intervention team as described in division (C) of section 3321.191 of the Revised Code. (2) The attendance officer shall file a complaint in the juvenile court of the county in which the child has a residence or legal settlement or in which the child is supposed to attend school jointly against the child and the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child, in accordance with the timelines and conditions set forth in division (B) of section 3321.16 of the Revised Code. A complaint filed in the juvenile court under this division shall allege that the child is an unruly child for being an habitual truant and that the parent, guardian, or other person having care of the child has violated section 3321.38 of the Revised Code. (E) A school district with a chronic absenteeism percentage that is less than five per cent, as displayed on the district’s most recent report card issued under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code, and the school buildings within that district, shall be exempt from the requirement to assign habitually truant students to an absence intervention team for the following school year and shall instead take any appropriate action as an intervention strategy contained in the policy developed by the district board pursuant to divisions (A) and (B) of section 3321.191 of the Revised Code. In the event that those intervention strategies fail, within sixty-one days after their implementation, the attendance officer shall file a complaint, provided that the conditions described in division (B) of section 3321.16 of the Revised Code are satisfied.

Policy Type
Statute