Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Initial requests by school district or a
board of education
(1) A school district may
request a transfer of certain territory for school purposes under section
3311.06 of the Revised Code by
sending an initial letter requesting the land transfer to the state board of
education and including copies of:
(a) The
resolution of the requesting board of education;
(b) Each annexation ordinance identified by
number;
(c) A map showing the
area(s) being considered for transfer;
(d) Evidence that good faith negotiations
occurred or requesting board of education made good faith efforts to host
negotiations; and
(e) If
negotiations occurred and the parties did not reach an agreement, a statement
signed by all participating boards listing the terms agreed on and the points
on which no agreement could be reached.
(2) Under the provisions of section
3311.24 of the Revised Code, if
the board of education of a city or exempted village school district deems it
advisable to transfer territory from such district to an adjoining city,
exempted village, or county school district, then the board of education of the
district in which the proposal originates shall file the request, along with a
map showing the boundaries of the territory proposed to be transferred, with
the state board of education prior to the first day of April in any
even-numbered year.
The board of education must file copies of the documents set
forth in paragraphs (A)(1)(a) to (A)(1)(e) of this rule when it files the
proposal.
(3) Upon receipt
of a negotiated agreement, the state board of education shall determine whether
to approve the agreement and adopt a resolution. The state board of education
may conduct a hearing before determining whether to approve or disapprove the
negotiated agreement.
(B)
Request by person(s)
(1) A person(s)
interested in requesting a transfer of territory from one school district to
another, for school purposes, pursuant to section
3311.24 of the Revised Code, may
petition to do so through the resident board of education.
(2) The board of education of the district in
which such a proposal originates, regardless of its position on the proposed
transfer, shall file the proposal, together with a map showing the boundaries
of the territories proposed to be transferred, with the state board of
education prior to the first day of April in any even-numbered year. In order
to afford the county board of elections sufficient time to verify signatures on
a petition that proposes a transfer of school district territory, residents
that seek the transfer of school district territory shall file the proposal for
transfer with the board of education of the district in which such proposal
originates prior to the fifteenth day of March in any even-numbered
year.
(3) The board of education of
the district in which the proposal originates by petition of qualified electors
residing within the portion of the school district proposed to be transferred
shall cause the board of elections to check the sufficiency of signatures on
the petition and shall notify the state board of education of such
determination.
(C) A
school district or a party initiating a request for transfer of territory shall
serve a copy of the request on the school district(s) affected by the proposed
transfer and shall indicate such service on the request which is filed with the
state board of education.
(D) Upon
receipt of the initial request for a transfer of territory under section
3311.06 or division (A) of
section 3311.24 of the Revised Code, or
upon determination by the state board of education that negotiations pursuant
to rule 3301-89-04 of the Administrative
Code have failed to produce an agreement, the
state board of education shall send to each of the
school districts involved in the proposed land transfer a request for
information. This request includes twenty-five questions. The answers to these
questions, along with any other relevant information provided, will be
considered by the state board of education and the hearing officer, if one is
appointed. The twenty-five questions are:
(1)
Why is the request being made?
(2)
Are there racial isolation implications?
(a)
What is the percentage of minority students in the relinquishing
district?
(b) What is the
percentage of minority students in the acquiring district?
(c) If approved, would the transfer result in
an increase in the percentage of minority pupils in the relinquishing
district?
(3) What
long-range educational planning for the students in the districts affected has
taken place?
(4) Will the acquiring
district have the fiscal and human resources to efficiently operate an expanded
educational program?
(5) Will the
acquiring district have adequate facilities to accommodate the additional
enrollment?
(6) Will both the
districts involved have pupil population and property valuation sufficient to
maintain high school centers?
(7)
Will the proposed transfer of territory contribute to good district
organization for the acquiring district?
(8) Does the acquiring district have the
capacity to assume any financial obligation that might accompany the
relinquished territory?
(9) Will
the loss of either pupils or valuation be detrimental to the fiscal or
educational operation of the relinquishing school district?
(10) Have previous transfers caused
substantive harm to the relinquishing district?
(11) Is the property wealth in the affected
area such that the motivation for the request could be considered a mechanism
for the receiving school district to receive additional real estate tax
revenue?
(12) Are there any school
buildings in the area proposed for transfer? If so, was the school building
constructed within the last five years?
(13) What are the distances between the
school buildings within:
(a) The present
school district?
(b) The proposed
school district?
(14)
What are the distances between:
(a) The area
proposed for transfer and each building in the present school
district?
(b) The area proposed for
transfer and each building in the proposed school district?
(15) If approved, will the
requested transfer create a school district with noncontiguous
territory?
(16) Is the area being
requested an isolated segment of the district of which it is a part?
(17) Will the municipal and school district
boundary lines become coterminous?
(18) For each district affected:
(a) What is the inside millage?
(b) What is the outside operating
millage?
(c) What is the bonded
indebtedness millage?
(19) What is the levy history in each of the
affected districts?
(20) Will the
transfer of school district territory cause a negative impact on the state of
Ohio?
(21) How will the projected
revenues and expenditures as set forth in the most recent five-year forecasts
be impacted by the transfer, if implemented? Each district shall provide the
state board of education with copies of their
most recent five-year forecasts.
(22) What designation did each of the
affected districts and building receive on their state report cards for the
last five years?
(23) How will the
proposed transfer affect the educational offerings/programs of the affected
districts?
(24) What course
offerings will be available through the acquiring district, as compared to the
relinquishing district?
(25) How
will the proposed transfer affect the athletic programs and extracurricular
activities of the affected districts? Will similar programs and activities be
available to students of the affected districts?
(E) When a school district completes the
information requests and forwards the same to the
state board of education, the school district shall
serve copies on the other school district(s) affected by the proposed transfer
and shall indicate such service on the responses that are filed with the
department of education. If within thirty days after the
state board of education sends to each district
the foregoing requests for information, a district has not submitted the
required responses, the
state board of education
agency shall present to the state board of education the information it
possesses for consideration.
(F) If
a request for a hearing is subsequently received by the
state board of education, a hearing officer shall
be appointed and a hearing date shall be established by the hearing officer and
the parties interested in participating in the hearing..
(G) The data and documents received by the
state board of education under this chapter shall
become part of the record of the hearing for consideration by the hearing
officer.
(H) In making a report and
recommendation to the state board of education, the hearing officer shall be
governed by the provisions of Chapter 3301-89 of the Administrative Code.
Within thirty days after the conclusion of the hearing on the proposed
transfer, the hearing officer should submit to the
state board of education a report and recommendation.
(1) Upon receipt of the hearing officer's
report and recommendation, the
state board of education shall
mail it to the school districts and any other affected parties.
(2) Upon receipt of the hearing officer's
report and recommendation, the affected parties will have ten days to submit
written objections to the report to the
state board of
education.
Any party that files objections shall serve a copy of the
objections on all affected parties.
(3) Any affected party may file a response to
the objections. Such response must be filed with the
state board of education within ten days after the
objections are mailed to the
state board of education, and
a copy must be served on all other affected parties.
(I) After the time for filing objections and
responses has ended, the state board education will then consider the hearing
officer's report and recommendation, objections, and responses, and adopt a
resolution which approves, disapproves, or modifies the recommendation of the
hearing officer. The decision of the state board of education will be made
solely on the record of the hearing, the report of the hearing officer and any
objections or responses filed by the parties.
(J) When a determination concerning a
transfer of territory will be made by the state board of education, the
state board of education shall notify the school
districts and other affected parties of the time and place the matter will be
considered by the state board of education.
