Ohio lawmakers want to close 'retirement loophole' for teachers accused of misconduct

Ohio teachers who resign during disciplinary investigations get put into a national database, but teachers who retire under those same circumstances do not.

"This means that a substitute teacher, a classroom aide or even someone who retires and rehires in another district could have a criminal allegation such as sexual misconduct with students, alcohol or drug abuse, or other conduct unbecoming a teacher and still enter a new classroom with a clean slate," Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur, R-Geneva-on-the-Lake, said.

It's called the retirement loophole, and it's something Fowler Arthur and Rep. Adam Miller, D-Columbus, want to close.

So, they introduced House Bill 403.

If passed, schools would submit the employee's name, Social Security number and "a factual statement of the employee’s misconduct" to the Ohio Department of Education. The same thing districts already do when a teacher resigns "under threat of termination or nonrenewal."

How a retired teacher could return to the classroom

"The bill is simple and straightforward," Fowler Arthur said. It would simply add the words "or retired" into the existing code.

When asked during a committee hearing in November how often this happens, neither Miller or Fowler Arthur had a number.

"This kind of retirement is probably very rare, however, given the substitute teacher shortage in the last year, the concern has been that maybe some of those teachers would get back into the field," Fowler Arthur said.

The earliest a teacher could retire with benefits would probably be 52, State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio spokesman Nick Treneff said. Employees need at least 30 years of service if they are younger than 55.

But Miller pointed to a recent case in northeast Ohio where five teachers resigned and one retired during an investigation.

Police alleged that the six teachers at Rocky River High School in Cleveland talked about a female student in inappropriate ways during a video chat uploaded to Google Classroom.

"Closing the loophole would mandate all six teachers be treated the same and reported to ODE," Miller said during a November committee meeting.

Teachers unions have supported similar bills in past

Neither the Ohio Federation of Teachers union or the Ohio Education Association have a position on HB 403 yet, but both groups have supported bills like this in the past.

"All adults who work with students should be held to high professional standards and student safety is of paramount importance," OEA spokeswoman Katie Olmsted said in a statement. "We also believe that due process rights must also be safeguarded and that just because someone is under investigation does not mean they have committed wrongdoing. Full, fair and timely investigations are essential."

Ohio has 317,407 licensed teachers, and the state investigated the conduct of 1,018 of them last year, according to data provided by ODE. About 14% of those teachers (143) permanently lost their licenses.

Fowler Arthur thinks HB 403 will have strong support from both Democrats and Republicans, and she's also discussing whether to add reporting requirements for substitute teachers.

"If it doesn't get forwarded to the Department of Education, other districts have no way of knowing," she said.

Anna Staver is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau. It serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio lawmakers try to close 'retirement loophole' for accused teachers