0100 - DEFINITIONS

Otsego Local School District

Bylaws & Policies

0100 - DEFINITIONS

Whenever the following items are used in these bylaws, policies and administrative guidelines, they shall have the meaning set forth below:

	Administrative Guideline

	A statement, based on policy, usually written, which outlines and/or describes the means by which a policy should be implemented and which provides for the management cycle of planning, action, and assessment or evaluation.

	Agreement

	A collectively negotiated contract with a recognized bargaining unit.

	Apps and Web Services

	Apps/web services are software (i.e., computer programs) that support the interaction of personal communication devices (as defined in Bylaw 0100, above) over a network, or client-server applications in which the user interface runs in a web browser. Apps/web services are used to communicate/transfer information/data that allow students to perform actions/tasks that assist them in attaining educational achievement goals/objectives, enable staff to monitor and assess their students' progress, and allow staff to perform other tasks related to their employment. Apps/web services also are used to facilitate communication to, from and among and between, staff, students, and parents.

	Board

	The Board of Education.

	Bylaw

	Rule of the Board for its own governance.


	Classified Employee

	An employee who provides support to the District's program and whose position does not require a professional license.

	Compulsory School Age

	A child between six and eighteen years of age or a child under six years of age who has been enrolled in kindergarten unless at any time the child’s parent or guardian, at the parent’s or guardian’s discretion and in consultation with the child’s teacher and principal, formally withdraws the child from kindergarten.

	District

	The School District.

	Due Process

	The safeguards to which a person is entitled in order to protect his/her rights.

	Educational Service Center Superintendent

	The Superintendent of Schools for the Wood County Educational Service Center Schools.

	Full Board

	Authorized number of voting members entitled to govern the District.


	Information Resources

	The Board defines Information Resources to include any data/information in electronic, audio-visual or physical form, or any hardware or software that makes possible the storage and use of data/information. This definition includes but is not limited to electronic mail, voice mail, social media, text messages, databases, CD-ROMs/DVDs, web sites, motion picture film, recorded magnetic media, photographs, digitized information, or microfilm. This also includes any equipment, computer facilities, or online services used in accessing, storing, transmitting or retrieving electronic communications.

	May

	This word is used when an action by the Board or its designee is permitted but not required.

	Meeting

	Any prearranged discussion of the Board’s public business by a majority of Board members.

	Parent

	The natural, adoptive, or surrogate parents or the party designated by the courts as the legal guardian or custodian of a student. Both parents will be considered to have equal rights unless a court of law decrees otherwise. When a student is the subject of a power of attorney or caretaker authorization affidavit executed by the student’s grandparent(s), the term parents shall also refer to the grandparent designated as the attorney-in-fact under the power of attorney or the grandparent who executed the affidavit.


	Although the grandparent shall have rights and responsibilities with regard to the care, physical custody, and control of the student, including the ability to enroll the student in school, to obtain from the District educational or behavioral information about the student, consent to all school related matters, and consent to medical, psychological, or dental treatment for the student, the power of attorney does not convey legal custody of the grandchild to the grandparent and does not affect the rights of the parent, guardian, or custodian of the student in any future proceeding concerning the custody of the student or allocation of parental rights and responsibilities for the care of the student.

	Likewise, although the grandparent shall have rights and responsibilities with regard to the care, physical custody, and control of the student, including the ability to enroll the student in school, to discuss with the District the student’s educational progress, consent to all school related matters, and consent to medical, psychological, or dental treatment for the student, the caretaker authorization affidavit does not convey legal custody of the grandchild to the grandparent and does not affect the rights of the student’s parents, guardian or custodian regarding the care, physical custody, and control of the child.

	R.C. 3313.64, 3109.52, 3109.65

	Personal Communication Devices

	Personal communication devices ("PCDs") include computers, laptops, tablets, e-readers, cellular/mobile phones, smartphones, telephone paging devices (e.g., beepers or pagers), and/or other web-enabled devices of any type.

	Policy

	A general, written statement by the governing board which defines its expectations or position on a particular matter and authorizes appropriate action that must or may be taken to establish and/or maintain those expectations.


	President

	The chief executive officer of the Board. (See Bylaw 0170)

	Principal

	The educational leader and head administrator of one (1) or more District schools. In policy and administrative guidelines, implies delegation of designated responsibilities to appropriate members of his/her staff.

	Professional Staff Member

	An employee who implements or supervises one (1) or more aspects of the District's program and whose position requires a professional credential from the Division of Teacher Education and Licensing.

	Relative

	The mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, parent of spouse, child, grandparents, grandchild, or dependent in the immediate household as defined in the negotiated, collectively-bargained agreement.

	Shall

	This word is used when an action by the Board or its designee is required. (The word "will" or "must" signifies a required action.)

	Student

	A person who is officially enrolled in a school or program of the District.

	Superintendent

	The chief executive officer of the School District. In policy, implies delegation of responsibilities to appropriate staff members.


	Technology Resources

	The Board defines Technology Resources to include computers, laptops, tablets, e-readers, cellular/mobile telephones, smartphones, web-enabled devices, video and/or audio recording equipment, SLR and DSLR cameras, projectors, software and operating systems that work on any device, copy machines, printers and scanners, information storage devices (including mobile/portable storage devices such as external hard drives, CDs/DVDs, USB thumb drives and memory chips), the computer network, Internet connection, and online educational services and apps.

	Textbook

	This word is used to describe the learning material duly adopted and required as standard work for the study of a particular subject. It may be bound and printed with a hard or soft cover, or it may be electronic, e.g., computer software, interactive videodisc, magnetic media, CD ROM, computer courseware, on-line service, electronic medium, or other means of conveying information.

	Treasurer

	The chief fiscal officer of the District.

	Vice-President

	The Vice-President of the Board of Education. (See Bylaw 0170)

	Voting

	A vote at a meeting of the Board of Education. The law requires that Board members must be physically present in order to have their vote officially recorded in the Board minutes. R.C. 3313.18, 3313.20

Citations to Ohio Statute are noted as R.C. (Revised Code). Citations to Rules of the State Board of Education are noted as A.C. (Administrative Code). Citations to the Federal Register are noted as FR, to the Code of Federal Regulations as C.F.R., and to the United States Code as U.S.C.

Revised 1/12/17