Ohio's state school board .jpeg

The state school board hears testimony Monday before its Tuesday vote toward eliminating state requirements for schools to have nurses, counselors and librarians.

(Patrick O'Donnell/The Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - State school board members appointed by Gov. John Kasich dominated Tuesday's vote to drop state requirements for school nurses, librarians and counselors and leave staffing decisions to local school boards.

The 11 members of the 19-person board that were appointed into their seats by Kasich voted 10-1 to kill the so-called "5 of 8" requirement the state has had for years.

It's not the final vote on the issue. That will come next year after two required administrative reviews of the change. But Tuesday's vote was a major step toward ending "5 of 8."

The rule requires schools to have at least five student support personnel from eight categories for every 1,000 students. Those eight are: elementary art, music or physical education teachers, school counselors, library media specialists, school nurses, social workers and "visiting teachers."

Debate was heated on the issue, with supporters of the change saying they want to remove state mandates and give districts the ability to set staffing at schools they know better than officials in Columbus. Opponents wanted to keep the rule to prevent less-affluent districts from axing these services when budgets are tight.

It's standard in Ohio for the state school board to have several appointees of the governor: The board is made up of 11 elected members and eight appointees. There are 11 appointees now because three elected members left office and Kasich appointed replacements to fill out those terms.

All three were up for re-election in November, with Rudduck and Wagner winning their seats again and only Westlake's Brad Lamb losing to Strongsville's Roslyn Painter-Goffi, a former Berea teacher.

Wagner, the former Montgomery County Auditor and common pleas court judge, was the only appointee voting against the change.

Major supporters of eliminating "5 of 8" were board Chair Debe Terhar, who was elected to the board but did not run again, and Rudduck, who chaired the committee that reviewed several rule changes this year. Board member C. Todd Jones was also outspoken in support of the change.

Here's the final vote from Tuesday, with an A after each Kasich appointee.

YES VOTES

Melanie P. Bolender A Michael Collins

Tess Elshoff A Joe Farmer A

Cathye Flory A Sarah Fowler

Thomas Gunlock A C. Todd Jones A

Brad W. Lamb A Kathleen McGervey

Ron Rudduck A Mark Smith A

Debe Terhar Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings A

NO VOTES

Deborah Cain Stephanie Dodd

Ann Jacobs Mary Rose Oakar

A.J. Wagner A

Below are the votes on an amendment from Board member Mary Rose Oakar of Cleveland proposing a compromise, and on a motion by Wagner to delay any vote until March. Those motions are explained in Tuesday's story from the board meeting.

1) Mary Rose Oakar motion to amend

YES VOTES

Stephanie Dodd Mary Rose Oakar

A.J. Wagner

NO VOTES

Melanie P. Bolender Deborah Cain

Michael Collins Tess Elshoff

Joe Farmer Cathye Flory

Sarah Fowler Thomas Gunlock

Ann Jacobs C. Todd Jones

Brad W. Lamb Ron Rudduck

Mark Smith Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings

Debe Terhar

Motion denied.

A.J. Wagner Motion to postpone Item 28 for 90 days.

YES VOTES

Stephanie Dodd Ann Jacobs

Mary Rose Oakar A.J. Wagner

NO VOTES

Melanie P. Bolender Michael Collins

Tess Elshoff Joe Farmer

Cathye Flory Sarah Fowler

Thomas Gunlock C. Todd Jones

Brad W. Lamb Kathleen McGervey

Ron Rudduck Mark Smith

Debe Terhar Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings

ABSTAIN

Deborah Cain

Motion denied.