(A) As used in this section:
(1) "Alliance" means a municipal school district transformation alliance established as a nonprofit corporation.
(2) "Alliance municipal school district" means a municipal school district for which an alliance has been created under this section.
(3) "Partnering community school" means a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code that is located within the territory of a municipal school district and that either is sponsored by the district or is a party to an agreement with the district whereby the district and the community school endorse each other's programs.
(4) "Transformation alliance education plan" means a plan prepared by the mayor, and confirmed by the alliance, to transform public education in the alliance municipal school district to a system of municipal school district schools and partnering community schools that will be held to the highest standards of school performance and student achievement.
(B) If one or more partnering community schools are located in a municipal school district, the mayor may initiate proceedings to establish a municipal school district transformation alliance as a nonprofit corporation under Chapter 1702. of the Revised Code. The mayor shall have sole authority to appoint the directors of any alliance created under this section. The directors of the alliance shall include representatives of all of the following:
(1) The municipal school district;
(2) Partnering community schools;
(3) Members of the community at large, including parents and educators;
(4) The business community, including business leaders and foundation leaders.
No one group listed in divisions (B)(1) to (4) of this section shall comprise a majority of the directors. The mayor shall be an ex officio director, and serve as the chairperson of the board of directors, of any alliance created under this section. If the proceedings are initiated, the mayor shall identify the directors in the articles of incorporation filed under section1702.04of the Revised Code.
(C)(1) A majority of the members of the board of directors of the alliance shall constitute a quorum of the board. Any formal action taken by the board of directors shall take place at a meeting of the board and shall require the concurrence of a majority of the members of the board. Meetings of the board of directors shall be public meetings open to the public at all times, except that the board and its committees and subcommittees may hold an executive session, as if it were a public body with public employees, for any of the purposes for which an executive session of a public body is permitted under division (G) of section121.22of the Revised Code, notwithstanding that the alliance is not a public body as defined in that section, and its employees are not public employees as provided in division (F) of this section. The board of directors shall establish reasonable methods whereby any person may determine the time and place of all of the board's public meetings and by which any person, upon request, may obtain reasonable advance notification of the board's public meetings. Provisions for that advance notification may include, but are not limited to, mailing notices to all subscribers on a mailing list or mailing notices in self-addressed, stamped envelopes provided by the person.
(2) All records of the alliance shall be organized and maintained by the alliance and also filed with the department of education and workforce. The alliance and the department shall make those records available to the public as though those records were public records for purposes of Chapter 149. of the Revised Code. The department shall promptly notify the alliance upon the department's receipt of any requests for records relating to the alliance pursuant to section149.43of the Revised Code.
(3) The board of directors of the alliance shall establish a conflicts of interest policy and shall adopt that policy, and any amendments to the policy, at a meeting of the board held in accordance with this section.
(D)(1) If an alliance is created under this section, the alliance shall do all of the following:
(a) Report annually on the performance of all municipal school district schools and all community schools established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code and located in the district, using the criteria adopted under division (B) of section3311.87of the Revised Code;
(b) Confirm and monitor implementation of the transformation alliance education plan;
(c) Suggest national education models for and provide input in the development of new municipal school district schools and partnering community schools.
(2) If an alliance is created under this section, the department may request alliance comment, or the alliance independently may offer comment to the department, on the granting, renewal, or extension of an agreement with a sponsor of community schools under section3314.015of the Revised Code when the sponsor has existing agreements with a community school located in an alliance municipal school district. If the alliance makes comments, those comments shall be considered by the department prior to making its decision whether to grant, renew, or extend the agreement.
For purposes of division (D)(2) of this section, comments by the alliance shall be based on the criteria established under division (A) of section3311.87of the Revised Code.
(E) Divisions (E)(1) to (3) of this section apply to each community school sponsor that is subject to approval by the department under section3314.015of the Revised Code whose approval under that section is granted, renewed, or extended on or after October 1, 2012. Divisions (E)(1) to (3) of this section do not apply to a sponsor that has been approved by the department prior to that date, until the sponsor's approval is renewed, granted anew, or extended on or after that date.
(1) Before a sponsor to which this section applies may sponsor new community schools in an alliance municipal school district, the sponsor shall request recommendation from the alliance to sponsor community schools in the district.
(2) The alliance shall review the sponsor's request and shall make a recommendation to the department based on the standards for sponsors developed under division (A)(2) of section3311.87of the Revised Code.
(3) The department shall use the standards developed under division (A)(2) of section3311.87of the Revised Code, in addition to any other requirements of the Revised Code, to review a sponsor's request and make a final determination, on recommendation of the alliance, of whether the sponsor may sponsor new community schools in the alliance municipal school district.
No sponsor shall be required to receive authorization to sponsor new community schools under division (E)(3) of this section more than one time.
(F) Directors, officers, and employees of an alliance are not public employees or public officials, are not subject to Chapters 124., 145., and 4117. of the Revised Code, and are not "public officials" or "public servants" as defined in section2921.01of the Revised Code. Membership on the board of directors of an alliance does not constitute the holding of an incompatible public office or employment in violation of any statutory or common law prohibition against the simultaneous holding of more than one public office or employment. Members of the board of directors of an alliance are not disqualified from holding any public office by reason of that membership, and do not forfeit by reason of that membership the public office or employment held when appointed to the board, notwithstanding any contrary disqualification or forfeiture requirement under the Revised Code or the common law of this state.
Last updated August 21, 2023 at 4:05 PM