(A) Notwithstanding anything in the Revised Code to the contrary, the department of education shall not assign an overall letter grade under division (C)(3) of section 3302.03 of the Revised Code for any school district or building for the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, or 2016-2017 school years, may, at the discretion of the state board of education, not assign an individual grade to any component prescribed under division (C)(3) of section 3302.03 of the Revised Code, and shall not rank school districts, community schools established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, or STEM schools established under Chapter 3326. of the Revised Code under section 3302.21 of the Revised Code for those school years. The report card ratings issued for the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, or 2016-2017 school years shall not be considered in determining whether a school district or a school is subject to sanctions or penalties. However, the report card ratings of any previous or subsequent years shall be considered in determining whether a school district or building is subject to sanctions or penalties. Accordingly, the report card ratings for the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, or 2016-2017 school years shall have no effect in determining sanctions or penalties, but shall not create a new starting point for determinations that are based on ratings over multiple years.

(B) The provisions from which a district or school is exempt under division (A) of this section shall be the following:

(1) Any restructuring provisions established under this chapter, except as required under the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001";

(2) Provisions for the Columbus city school pilot project under section 3302.042 of the Revised Code;

(3) Provisions for academic distress commissions under former section 3302.10 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to the effective date of this amendment. The provisions of this section do not apply to academic distress commissions under the version of that section as it exists on or after the effective date of this amendment.

(4) Provisions prescribing new buildings where students are eligible for the educational choice scholarships under section 3310.03 of the Revised Code;

(5) Provisions defining "challenged school districts" in which new start-up community schools may be located, as prescribed in section 3314.02 of the Revised Code;

(6) Provisions prescribing community school closure requirements under section 3314.35 or 3314.351 of the Revised Code.

(C) Notwithstanding anything in the Revised Code to the contrary and except as provided in Section 3 of H.B. 7 of the 131st general assembly, no school district, community school, or STEM school shall utilize at any time during a student's academic career a student's score on any assessment administered under division (A) of section 3301.0710 or division (B)(2) of section 3301.0712 of the Revised Code in the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, or 2016-2017 school year as a factor in any decision to promote or to deny the student promotion to a higher grade level or in any decision to grant course credit. No individual student score reports on such assessments administered in the 2014-2015, 2015-2016, or 2016-2017 school years shall be released, except to a student's school district or school or to the student or the student's parent or guardian.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 70, §1, eff. 10/15/2015.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 64, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2015.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 7, §1, eff. 3/16/2015.

Added by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 487, §1, eff. 9/17/2014.

Related Legislative Provision: See 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 7, §3.