(136th General Assembly)
(Substitute House Bill Number 43)
AN ACT
To waive the required minimum instructional hours for Ashtabula Lakeside High
School due to the school building being unusable and to declare an emergency.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. Due to winter weather for which the Governor declared a state of emergency and
the Ashtabula County Sheriff declared multiple Level Three Snow Emergencies, and that caused
residential roads to be unusable for ten days, shutdown of all essential services such as grocery
stores and the local hospital, local internet service to be inaccessible for up to a month, structure and
roof damage to the Ashtabula County Emergency Response Facility and backup emergency response
facility, the collapse of Ashtabula Lakeside High School's roof, and damage to the Ashtabula City
School district administrative offices and server which delayed the transition to remote instruction,
the Department of Education and Workforce shall do both of the following for the 2024-2025 school
year:
(A) Provide the Ashtabula City School District with flexibility in granting a high school
diploma to a twelfth grade student who attended Ashtabula Lakeside High School based on the
student's demonstration of subject area competency, instead of or in combination with completing
hours of classroom instruction, pursuant to division (J) of section 3313.603 of the Revised Code;
(B) Waive not more than twenty-four of the required minimum number of hours the school
building must be open for instruction with students in attendance under section 3313.48 of the
Revised Code for the purposes of the school district's eligibility to receive state funds under Chapter
3317. of the Revised Code.
SECTION 2. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency measure necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is to
ensure that, after the closure of Ashtabula Lakeside High School due to severe winter weather and
the school's roof's collapse, affected high school seniors may graduate on time and Ashtabula City
School District may maintain its state funding. Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect. Sub. H. B. No. 43 136th G.A.
Speaker ___________________ of the House of Representatives.
President ___________________ of the Senate.
Passed ________________________, 20____
Approved ________________________, 20____
Governor. Sub. H. B. No. 43 136th G.A.
This act is not of a general and permanent nature and does not require a
code section number.
Director, Legislative Service Commission.
Filed in the office of the Secretary of State at Columbus, Ohio, on the ____
day of ___________, A. D. 20____.
Secretary of State.
File No. _________Effective Date ___________________