Fowler Arthur Announces Passage of Ashtabula Lakeside High School Waiver Legislation by Education Committee

Columbus, OH – Representative Sarah Fowler Arthur (R – Ashtabula) is pleased to announce that House Bill 43 (H.B. 43), which would waive the required minimum instructional hours for Ashtabula Lakeside High School due to the school building being unusable after the roof collapsed, passed unanimously out of the House Education Committee this week. This bill would authorize the Department of Education and Workforce to waive no more than 24 hours of the 1,001 hours that is required for a public school in Ohio.

“I’m grateful to Superintendent Newsome and Principal Wetherholt for their advocacy and quick actions to pivot the school district through the disaster response. With H.B. 43, high school seniors will be able to graduate on time and the school will remain eligible for full state funding during the upcoming school year,” said Fowler Arthur.

Ashtabula Principal Doug Wetherholt was there to give proponent testimony, “My staff worked tirelessly to prepare to welcome students back to the classroom in [various school buildings throughout the district so that they were] in an environment that was as closely replicated to what they had prior to their displacement.”

H.B. 43 now awaits a potential floor vote by the full House of Representatives.