Section 2151.362. Determining school district to bear cost of educating child - change of residence

(A)

(1) In the manner prescribed by division (C)(1) or (2) of section 3313.64 of the Revised Code, as applicable, the court, at the time of making any order that removes a child from the child's own home or that vests legal or permanent custody of the child in a person other than the child's parent or a government agency, shall determine the school district that is to bear the cost of educating the child. The court shall make the determination a part of the order that provides for the child's placement or commitment. That school district shall bear the cost of educating the child unless and until the department of education determines that a different district shall be responsible for bearing that cost pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section. The court's order shall state that the determination of which school district is responsible to bear the cost of educating the child is subject to re-determination by the department pursuant to that division.

(2) If, while the child is in the custody of a person other than the child's parent or a government agency, the department of education determines that the place of residence of the child's parent has changed since the court issued its initial order, the department may name a different school district to bear the cost of educating the child. The department shall make this new determination, and any future determinations, based on evidence received from the school district currently responsible to bear the cost of educating the child. If the department finds that the evidence demonstrates to its satisfaction that the residence of the child's parent has changed since the court issued its initial order under division (A)(1) of this section, or since the department last made a determination under division (A)(2) of this section, the department shall name the district in which the child's parent currently resides or, if the parent's residence is not known, the district in which the parent's last known residence is located. If the department cannot determine any Ohio district in which the parent currently resides or has resided, the school district designated in the initial court order under division (A)(1) of this section, or in the most recent determination made by the department under division (A)(2) of this section, shall continue to bear the cost of educating the child.

(B) Whenever a child is placed in a detention facility established under section 2152.41 of the Revised Code or a juvenile facility established under section 2151.65 of the Revised Code, the facility shall be responsible for coordinating the education of the child. The facility may take any of the following measures in coordinating the education of the child:

(1) If applicable, use the chartered nonpublic school that the facility operates;

(2) Arrange with the school district responsible for bearing the cost of educating the child determined under division (A) of this section, for the facility to educate the child on its own;

(3) Contract with an educational service center for the service center to educate the child;

(4) Contract with the school district in which the facility is located for that school district to educate the child;

(5) If the child is enrolled in an internet- or computer-based community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, and provided that the facility possesses the necessary hardware, software, and internet connectivity, permit continued instruction of the child by the internet- or computer-based community school.

If the facility coordinates the education of the child pursuant to division (B)(1), (2), (3), or (4) of this section, child's school district as determined by the court or the department, in the same manner as prescribed in division (A) of this section, shall pay the cost of educating the child based on the per capita cost of the educational facility within the detention home or juvenile facility.

If the facility coordinates the education of the child pursuant to division (B)(5) of this section, payment for the cost of educating the child shall be made only as provided in division (C) of section 3314.08 of the Revised Code.

(C) Whenever a child is placed by the court in a private institution, school, or residential treatment center or any other private facility, the state shall pay to the court a subsidy to help defray the expense of educating the child in an amount equal to the product of the daily per capita educational cost of the private facility, as determined pursuant to this section, and the number of days the child resides at the private facility, provided that the subsidy shall not exceed twenty-five hundred dollars per year per child. The daily per capita educational cost of a private facility shall be determined by dividing the actual program cost of the private facility or twenty-five hundred dollars, whichever is less, by three hundred sixty-five days or by three hundred sixty-six days for years that include February twenty-ninth. The state shall pay seventy-five per cent of the total subsidy for each year quarterly to the court. The state may adjust the remaining twenty-five per cent of the total subsidy to be paid to the court for each year to an amount that is less than twenty-five per cent of the total subsidy for that year based upon the availability of funds appropriated to the department of education for the purpose of subsidizing courts that place a child in a private institution, school, or residential treatment center or any other private facility and shall pay that adjusted amount to the court at the end of the year.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. 25, HB 59, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2013.

Effective Date: 07-11-2006; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007