Members of the Tri-County Career Center Community:
This message is to advise you that the District’s administration has received a request from the Ohio Department of Education to assist the Department in providing notice of a proposed settlement the Department has reached in a long-standing federal court case filed against the Department back in the 1990s, entitled Doe v. Ohio Department of Education. The case is a federal class action suit brought by various parties against the Ohio Department of Education pertaining to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Please note that the Tri-County Career Center is not a party to and has absolutely no part in this litigation. Rather, all public school districts in Ohio have been asked by the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of the Chief Legal Counsel to provide notice of the proposed settlement in the case to affected students and their parents. Specifically, the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of the Chief Legal Counsel has requested all public school districts in Ohio provide said notice in three forms, as soon as possible:
1. Post a copy of the Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement on the district’s website;
2. Post a copy of the Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement in a central location in each building that is open to the public in the district;
3. Provide a copy of the Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement directly to the parents or students through email, any electronic portals (for example, parent or student portals used to distribute grades, assignments or forms) or other means reasonably calculated to reach the parents or students in the district.
The District is honoring the Department’s request, but again emphasizes to our school district community that the Tri-County Career Center has absolutely no part in this case and has nothing to do with the litigation. Rather, the District is honoring the Department’s request to provide such notice in compliance with the Federal Court’s Order dated Nov. 15, 2019 in the case, granting preliminary approval of class action settlement reached between the parties (Doe and Ohio Department of Education).
Should you have any questions about this, please contact the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of the Chief Legal Counsel at (614) 752-5807.