Staff Attorney - Dispute Resolution

About Us:

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce is a diverse team of passionate, education-focused professionals responsible for overseeing and enhancing the quality of education for each of Ohio’s 1.7 million students. The Department provides the resources and supports essential to raising student achievement and accelerating learning opportunities, advancing the connectivity between K-12 and postsecondary learning, creating programs to support and expand workforce experiences, and ensuring students have the necessary supports to be ready each day to learn.

As the governing body responsible for overseeing and enhancing the quality of education within the State of Ohio, the Department of Education and Workforce is dedicated to promoting educational excellence and ensuring equal access to learning opportunities for all students. The Department is committed to collaborating with schools, districts, educators, students, families, businesses, nonprofits and all stakeholders to achieve our educational goals.

What You'll Do:

Serves as an unclassified employee pursuant to O.R.C. Section 3301.13 and performs the following educational and/or research duties:

On behalf of the Office for Exceptional Children (OEC) ensures compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and state regulations through the formal complaint process:

· Advises on IDEA formal complaints and credible allegations within the applicable federal timeline;

· Ensures formal and neutral complaint, allegations, and investigation processes are followed;

· Provides technical assistance to parties regarding the process, develops and reviews various complaint letters, and credible allegations letters;

· Reviews and advises on the sufficiency of complaints and on areas of concerns regarding IDEA compliance;

· Reviews a letter of allegation, including issues based on the original complaint, and provides legal conclusions and citation;

· Reviews letter of findings including restating issues from the letter of allegations, facts pertinent to each issue, finding of a violation or non-violation, and provide legal citations;

· Reviews letters of areas of concerns or credible allegations and provide legal citations;

· Negotiates, drafts, and monitors corrective action plans if there is noncompliance;

· Reviews and drafts letters that analyze special education facts and provides legal conclusions and citations;

· Collaborates with Associate Administrator and Assistant Administrator on letters regarding special education facts and legal conclusions and citations.

· Provides technical assistance to district administrators, advocates, attorneys, parents, and organizations regarding the dispute resolution process and IDEA;

· Responds to inquiries regarding the dispute resolution processes and IDEA;

· Makes presentations to State agencies, committees, parents, school districts, and other groups on a variety of special education topics.

· Collaborates with the other sections of the Office for Exceptional Children and other offices within DEW regarding compliance and monitoring, policies and procedures, and other issues related to services for students with disabilities.

Performs other duties as assigned:

· Participates and organizes statewide meetings for administrators, teachers, and parents of children with disabilities;

· Conducts workshops and makes presentations.

What’s in it for you:

At the State of Ohio, we take care of the team that cares for Ohioans. We provide a variety of quality, competitive benefits to eligible full-time and part-time employees. For a list of all the State of Ohio Benefits, visit our Total Rewards website! Our benefits package includes:

Medical Coverage

• Quality, affordable, and competitive medical benefits are offered through the available Ohio Med plans.

Dental, Vision and Basic Life Insurance

• Dental, vision, and basic life insurance premiums are free after completed eligibility period. Length of eligibility period is dependent on union representation.

Time Away From Work and Work/Life Balance

• Paid time off, including vacation, personal, and sick leave
• 11 paid holidays per year
• Childbirth/Adoption leave

Employee Development Funds

• The State of Ohio offers a variety of educational and professional development funding that varies based on whether you are a union-exempt employee or a union-represented employee.

Ohio Public Employees Retirement System

• OPERS is the retirement system for State of Ohio employees. The employee contributes 10% of their salary towards their retirement. The employer contributes an amount equal to 14% of the employee’s salary. Visit the OPERS website for more information.

Deferred Compensation

• The Ohio Deferred Compensation program is a 457(b) voluntary retirement savings plan. Visit the Ohio Deferred Compensation website for more information.

Admission to Ohio Bar pursuant to Section 4705.01 of Revised Code; 12 mos. exp. as licensed attorney; 6 mos. exp. in employee training & development.

• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and team-building skills

• Systems thinker with creativity and strong problem-solving skills

• Investigative experience

Job Skills: Attorney/Legal

Ohio is a Disability Inclusion State and strives to be a model employer of individuals with disabilities. The State of Ohio is committed to providing access and inclusion and reasonable accommodation in its services, activities, programs and employment opportunities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other applicable laws.

The State of Ohio is a drug-free workplace which prohibits the use of marijuana (recreational marijuana/non-medical cannabis). Please note, this position may be subject to additional restrictions pursuant to the State of Ohio Drug-Free Workplace Policy (HR-39), and as outlined in the posting.

Knowledge: (1) Administration & Management; (2*) Agency Policies & Procedures; (3*) Government Structure & Process; (4) Law & Government (e.g., Federal and State laws applicable to education, including but not limited to Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) 3301-51-01 through 3301-51-13; ESEA); (5) Education and Training (e.g., IDEA general supervision requirements); (6) Customer and Personal Service; (7) analysis of documents and records; (8) Agency Policies and Procedures (e.g., compliant procedures, due process, mediation, IDEA);

Skills: (9) Report Writing; (10) Communication (e.g. oral, active listening, written); (11) Organization; (12) Time/Resource Management; (13) Critical Thinking and Judgment/Decision Making; (14) Problem Solving and Problem Sensitivity; (15) Monitoring; (16) Speaking; (17) Written Expression; (18) Persuasion; (19) Complex Problem Solving;

Abilities: (14) Deductive Reasoning; (15) Comprehension (e.g. oral, written, reading). (16) resolve complaints from angry citizens & government officials; (17) Collaboration; (18) Prepare reports.

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer that values diversity and seeks talented individuals from diverse backgrounds. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected class. Questions or concerns about this should be directed to the Office of Human Resources ([email protected]).

The final candidate selected for this position will be required to undergo a criminal background check as well as other investigative reviews. Criminal convictions do not necessarily preclude an applicant from consideration for a position, unless restricted under state or federal law or federal restrictions. An individual assessment of an applicant's prior criminal convictions will be made before excluding an applicant from consideration.