Jarod’s Law that focused on safety of students being dropped Oct. 16

August 28, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS (AP) — An Ohio law prompted by the accidental death of a first-grader is being repealed, just two years after it was enacted in an effort to increase the safety of schoolchildren.

Jarod’s Law will no longer be enforced as of Oct. 16, said Kristopher Weiss, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health. A provision repealing the law was inserted by the Senate into the state budget bill that passed last month.

The law was named after 6-year-old Jarod Bennett, who suffered a skull fracture in December 2003 when a folded-up, 290-pound cafeteria table fell on him as another boy wheeled it in an elementary school gymnasium in Lebanon in southwest Ohio.

“Many districts had expressed concerns that the guidelines for schools under Jarod’s Law had become overly restrictive and costly,” said Allison Kolodziej, spokeswoman for Gov. Ted Strickland, who supported the repeal.

“He is committed to working with schools and the state health board to develop responsible and common sense safety standards,” she said.

The Legislature overwhelmingly passed the bill in 2005, and it was signed into law by then-Gov. Bob Taft. It required county health commissioners to inspect schools for possible hazards from equipment, such as tables, desks and bleachers, along with prior requirements to inspect for potential disease-causing problems in food service and heating and air systems. The law also reduced inspections from twice to once a year.

“We will be reverting back to what was done prior to Jarod’s Law when local health departments were to do twice-annual sanitary school inspections. There are no rules or standards for what those inspections adhere to,” Weiss said.

Since the law was passed, some local boards of health complained that the state did not provide funds to implement the changes, and some districts expressed concern that changes required were unreasonable and costly.

The health department recommends that local boards continue to use a school-inspection manual that is part of Jarod’s Law, but it is no longer required. With the repeal, schools also will not have to file plans that show how they will fix problems found during inspections, Weiss said.

Jarod’s parents, James and Jennifer, were instrumental in getting the law passed. A Web site the family created after the child’s death was not operating Thursday, and a message seeking comment was left at a listing in Lebanon. State Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who backed the repeal, did not immediately return a call to comment.

The repeal was added into the Senate version of the bill without adequate time for public discussion, said Beth Bickford, executive director of the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners.

“A lot of work and time went into passing Jarod’s Law. It didn’t seem fair it got tossed out at the last minute,” she said.

She said ongoing discussions with the health department aimed at revising the rules would have resolved many of the concerns.

Schools had said the inspections were helpful in identifying priorities, but many did not have the money to make nonurgent changes right away, she said.