Tutor Ohio Kids Districts & Schools

Effective in 2022, House Bill 583 required the state Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a program to provide tutoring and remedial education services to students in participating public and chartered nonpublic schools.  The tutors are not, however, employees of the state Superintendent or the schools in which they provide services. Rather, each tutor is either an employee of, or an unpaid volunteer engaged by, the ESC of Central Ohio. Participation in the program by public and chartered nonpublic schools is voluntary, and schools are not prohibited from contracting or partnering with another entity for tutoring services. Tutors placed in schools must provide those services in math, science, social studies, reading, and English language arts.

Districts and schools have authority over how to incorporate tutors into the school setting in cooperation with an ESC. The tutoring programs may take place before, during, or after school, as well as on breaks from school such as weekends, holidays, or summer vacation. In addition, tutoring activities may take place online or in person, including on school premises, at a community-based youth development organization, or in another public location that the district/school and ESC determine appropriate. Participating districts and schools must provide necessary materials, space, and equipment for tutors placed in the school. They also must use their own funds to pay for costs incurred from participating in the program

An individual qualifies to be a tutor under the program in one of two ways. 

1) A tutor may be a retired teacher or substitute teacher, regardless of whether the teacher still holds a valid educator license, as long as the teacher has not had an educator license denied, suspended, or revoked by the State Board or entered into a consent agreement with it regarding a disciplinary issue.

2) An individual may qualify as a tutor if the ESC determines that individual meets eligibility standards adopted by the state Superintendent.

Tutors are required to register with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW). As a condition of registration, an individual must submit to a criminal records check through the ESC. ODEW will enroll the individual in the retained applicant fingerprint database (RAPBACK) in the same manner as a teacher who receives an educator license.

ODEW cannot accept the application of any individual if it learns that individual has pleaded guilty to, been found guilty of, or been convicted of any offenses prescribed under continuing law that precludes employment in K-12 schools. Additionally, if ODEW receives notification through RAPBACK of the arrest or conviction of an individual registered as a tutor, it will notify the ESC. ODW may take any disciplinary action authorized under law against the individual as if the individual were a licensed educator.

The ESC, in consultation with the state Superintendent, has developed a training course for tutors who do not have a valid educator license.

The ESC of Central Ohio is responsible for compensating the tutors it employs. However, each participating district/school is required to transfer funds to assist the ESC in making payments, or paying the costs of other benefits, to the tutors placed in that district/school.

Tutors employed by the ESC and who hold a registration issued by ODEW are included as teachers for State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) membership.

NOTE: A teacher who has retired under STRS may be re-employed as a “teacher” for STRS purposes but does not earn STRS service credit toward a retirement or other benefit. Instead, a re-employed teacher continues to contribute to STRS and, on separation from employment, receives a refund of contributions, lump sum payment, or annuity benefit.