Gov. Mike DeWine signed a stack of bills Wednesday from the lame duck legislative session, including House Bill 8, the so-called “Parents Bill of Rights” that includes a section mandating that all Ohio public schools add policies allowing for religious educational release.
Under HB 8, parents will be notified of and be allowed to pull their children from “sexuality” content in classroom settings. School personnel will also have to disclose big changes in a student’s physical or mental health, such as seeking out counseling, among other provisions.
“If you’re a parent, you want to be informed of what’s going on in your child’s life. The parents are the best teachers, they’re the first teachers, they’re the best teachers,” DeWine said Wednesday afternoon. “I think that’s what was behind that.”
Before passing it in December, members of the Senate added provisions requiring that public schools let students leave for religious instruction during the day. The state doesn’t set the standards, letting schools form their own policies—just telling them to pass a policy.
Over several hours-long hearings, HB 8 proponents said it gave parents more of a say in their children’s schooling. LGBTQ advocates likened it to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, arguing it had the potential to “out” students, while social work professionals said it would put undue burden on them.
“We love these students as we love anybody else,” DeWine said. “They’re not only welcome in Ohio, they’re welcome in our schools, and we want to protect them as we protect every other student.”
Sextortion, expulsions legislation signed
During the marathon-signing session, DeWine signed 28 other bills into law, according to a spokesperson. Among them was House Bill 531, which establishes harsher criminal penalties for sextortion offenses—when a person coerces a teenager or child into sending a sexual image, or claims they have one, and then blackmails the victim for money.
The law is entitled “Braden’s Law” for Braden Markus, a 15-year-old from Delaware County who died by suicide in October 2021 following a sextortion incident. Markus’s family and friends filled the governor’s office Wednesday at the Statehouse.
DeWine also signed House Bill 206, which allows school districts to expand their expulsion polices to cases that might not have traditionally qualified for permanent expulsion.
“I looked at it very carefully to decide whether or not I should veto that. I decided not to,” DeWine said. “But the reality is, when a student is taken out of a class ... the reality is that student still needs to go somewhere, that we don't want that student sitting at home doing nothing.”
Students who face expulsions for “imminent and severe endangerment,” which could go as long as 180 days, would have to undergo a psychological assessment prior to being allowed back to school. Assessment standards are to be set by schools in consultation with parents and other parties.
It defines imminent and severe endangerment in a few ways: bringing a gun or knife to school or extracurriculars, doing something that is a “criminal offense when committed by an adult,” making a bomb threat, or making a verbal or written threat—via a hit list, manifesto, or on social media.
Most of what DeWine signed Wednesday takes effect in 90 days.
