Bird's Legislation Favored on the House Floor
COLUMBUS - The Ohio House of Representatives lent its support to legislation by State Representative Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) during the most recent voting session.
House Bill 606 quickly made its way to the floor after being reported out of committee last week. The legislation calls for public and chartered nonpublic schools to create a seizure action plan for each student diagnosed with a seizure disorder.
“I was proud to sponsor this bill in honor of Sarah Linardos, I admire her family’s advocacy work to make Ohio schools safer for kids with seizure disorders,” said Bird. “I look forward to working further on this legislation with my colleagues in the Senate.”
House members agreed on the following requirements provided by the bill:
- Individualized action plans for students with seizures be developed in collaboration with a parent or guardian, the student’s treating practitioner and other components required by the State Board of Education.
- At least one employee at each school receives seizure action plan training.
- Classmates will receive age-appropriate instruction on seizure disorders.
Within the same voting session, House members also passed H.B. 554, legislation inviting former teachers to re-enter the field by allowing the State Board of Education to issue temporary educator licenses to applicants with expired professional teacher’s certificates and professional educator licenses.
Applicants must have left the field in good standing to receive the temporary license.
While the measure offers a short-term solution to Ohio’s current staffing challenges in schools, Bird acknowledges that the state must make an effort to understand why the education field has become less attractive to Ohioans.
“This is a very complex issue that will require a lot of thoughtful work,” said Bird. “It’s not something we can ignore though, and it’ll remain among my legislative priorities.”
Both H.B. 606 and H.B. 554 now head to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.