- In case you missed it all, the amended version of HB 67 we previewed on Monday was heard and voted out of its House committee. (Cleveland.com, 3/3/21) Weirdly, however, the bill’s emergency clause was stripped out when the rest of it was approved by the full House—which means its provisions will not actually apply until after the end of this school year as it stands now. While House members seem pretty sure the Senate will add that emergency thing back in there when they debate it, the cynic in me can’t help but wonder if the whole kerfuffle isn’t just a smoke screen to distract from the unrelated and steaming piles of graduation requirement turds dropped into the bill. None of which are mentioned in these two news stories either. Weird, right? (Columbus Dispatch, 3/4/21)
- And in case you also missed this, there are a number of substantive provisions affecting school transportation included in the state budget bill currently under review in the House. These provisions, as I read them, seem specifically targeted to eliminate the ongoing transportation troubles we regularly cover here in the Bites—even from way before anyone ever heard of SARS-CoV-2. I feel like I am bolstered in that opinion by dint of how vehemently the education blob reacted against them during a bill hearing this past week. (Gongwer Ohio, 2/4/21)
- Seems like the reopening of Cleveland Metropolitan School District classrooms might have run into a roadblock. Members of the local teachers union voted last night to remain at home on Monday instead of reporting to classrooms—even without students—as the district had planned. At rock bottom, it seems that the union is not comfortable with the pace of building safety reviews currently underway nor with some of the findings of the reviews already completed. There was also some weirdness about the guest WiFi, but that seems minor. (Cleveland.com, 3/4/21)
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