HB 43: Waive minimum instructional hours for specified high school - Ohio

As Passed by the Senate → As Enrolled · 4 edits · Apr 21, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was reorganized from a standard legislative format to an enrolled version with updated headers and signatures. The substantive policy content remains unchanged, maintaining the same emergency provisions for Ashtabula Lakeside High School diploma flexibility and instructional hour waivers due to winter weather damage.

TECHNICAL

Header format changed from 'As Passed by the Senate' to '(136th General Assembly)' and '(Substitute House Bill Number 43)' to reflect the bill's progression through the legislative process.

Removed representative and senator cosponsor lists and replaced with signature lines for House Speaker, Senate President, and Governor approval.

Added standard enrolled bill language including filing information with the Secretary of State and emergency declaration provisions.

Deleted page numbers and line numbering that were present in the Senate-passed version for formatting purposes.

As Passed by the House → As Passed by the Senate · 2 edits · Apr 2, 2025

MINOR

The bill was amended to add Senate cosponsors and adjust formatting, while the substantive policy content regarding instructional hour waivers and emergency declarations for Ashtabula Lakeside High School remained unchanged. The core provisions allowing the school district to waive minimum instructional hours and grant diplomas based on competency instead of classroom hours due to the building collapse and winter weather emergency were preserved in the Senate version.

TECHNICAL

Added Senate cosponsors (Senators Brenner, Antonio, Blessing, Cirino, Craig, O'Brien, Patton, Reineke, Roegner, Smith, Wilkin, Wilson) to reflect the bill's passage through the Senate.

Adjusted bill title formatting and layout to match Senate conventions, including repositioning the bill number and session information.

As Introduced → As Passed by the House · 4 edits · Feb 26, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was amended to add an emergency declaration and expand the justification for waiving instructional hour requirements. The changes include more detailed descriptions of the emergency conditions, additional emergency declaration language, and expanded flexibility for diploma granting options.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include more specific details about the emergency conditions and added an explicit emergency declaration provision.

ENFORCEMENT

Added explicit emergency declaration language stating the act is necessary for immediate preservation of public peace, health, and safety, allowing immediate effect.

REQUIREMENT

Expanded the justification section to include specific details about the emergency: Level Three Snow Emergencies, ten days of unusable roads, shutdown of essential services, inaccessible internet, facility damage, roof collapse, and administrative office damage.

Added new provision (A) providing flexibility for granting high school diplomas based on subject area competency demonstration instead of or in combination with classroom instruction hours.

TECHNICAL

Added cosponsor list and formatted changes to header information including 'As Passed by the House' designation.

Waive minimum instructional hours for specified high school

What changed between versions

How they voted

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