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SALEM -- The board of education was updated on new state laws that will impact public schools in its meeting Monday.
Superintendent Jamie Kemats updated the board on new requirements set by House Bill 96 which concern attendance reporting and Senate Bill 19 which Kemats said implements new math curriculum requirements similar to the science of reading guidelines implemented by House Bill 33 in 2023.
Kemats said that under House Bill 96 all absences, even those which are medically excused, will count toward a student's total hours absent for state-defined thresholds of chronic absence. By state law districts are required to send a notice to families when the total number of hours missed by a student reaches 5% of the total for the school year, with an in-person meeting with the student's guardians required when that figure reaches 10%, and potential legal action following if attendance does not improve. Kemats said that additional information about the attendance changes will be sent out to district parents soon.
"We do have students that have medical needs, and we understand that. It's just that you look at more supportive measures. Doing it like an intervention team and asking what we can do to help support them when they're not able to get to school," Kemats said. "We will be putting more information out there, it's a little confusing to parents, because there's a couple different definitions that mean different things according to the state."
Under the initial phase of Senate Bill 19, any school district's where third-grade students have a passage rate of 50% or less on state math testing will be required to complete and implement a district-wide math remediation plan, with any students who score limited on the state test requiring individual remediation. Kemats said that while Salem would not need to do district wide remediation, it would still be subject to the individual support requirements and would likely need to schedule that remediation during Quaker time.
"They are required to have extra remediation or intervention using an evidence-based program. We're likely going to get that time from Quaker time at our elementary buildings, which we typically use right now for reading intervention, but we still have to do the reading intervention too," Kemats said. "So, this is going to really fall under scheduling, we do need to notify families of kids who are affected by this, and then they will get a math improvement plan…Once we do that, we will have to report to the state how the kids are making progress, and the interventions we're doing and then the state will be auditing 5% of districts each year."
The law also included acceleration requirements which would see seventh grade students that score accomplished or advanced on state tests, the two highest scores possible, automatically placed in algebra in eighth grade unless parents opt out. Districts will also be required to off advancement opportunities for students in grades three through six, although the specifics of those opportunities are still murky.
"A lot of these guidelines aren't really out from the state officially yet. I anticipate in the next couple months they will have that guidance out, but right now, they don't. It is in effect for the school year. They just don't have the guidance out yet, which is, unfortunately, a common problem," Kemats said.
Kemats said that all incoming teachers are also required to complete courses on the new requirements and pass a test before being permitted to teach math, and that current teachers will have to complete a supplemental course which is expected to be online and be completed by Dec. 31. Kemats said that in addition to the specific requirements and guidelines for implementation being unfinished, these changes were currently all unfunded mandates. However, she also noted that the lack of funding may be changed at a later date, and that she hoped the state would consider providing some level of funding to school districts as implementing the required changes will significantly impact district scheduling for both staff and students.
The board also approved several administrative and personnel items.
Administrative items approved included: Membership in the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy for fiscal year 2027 at a cost of $951.50; approval of blanket orders for the 2026-2027 school year; and purchase orders to the Bureau of Worker's Compensation in the amount of $4,387.66, and to Ballfrog in the amount of $4,500.
Personnel items approved included: An athletic supplemental for Assistant Girls Soccer Coach Alyssa Bricker; the resignation of Intervention Specialist Logan Chestnut effective at the end of the 2025-2026 contract; the retire rehires of Attila Samu, William Miller, Todd Stokes, Aimee Cochran, Mindy Hiltbrand, and Ronald Johnson; the hire of Intervention Specialist Jennie Stitzel effective Aug. 24; and athletic supplementals for the 2026-2027 school year.
The board of education will meet next at 7 p.m. on Aug. 17.