Ohio School Boards Association

Basic facts
Location:| Columbus, Ohio
Type:| 501(c)(4)
Affiliation:| Nonpartisan
Top official:| Tom Hosler, CEO
Year founded:| 1955
Employees:| 42
Website:| Official website

The Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) is an organization of school boards in Ohio. The association says it "[serves] Ohio’s public school board members and the diverse districts they represent through superior service, unwavering advocacy and creative solutions."[1] As of December 2025, the OSBA provided resources, training, and legal services to school board members, as well as legislative advocacy on issues affecting education in Ohio.[2]

The OSBA terminated its membership with the National School Boards Association in October 2021.[3]

## Contents

* 1 Background
* 2 Leadership
* 3 Work and activities
* 3.1 Legislative and policy work
* 4 Finances
* 5 See also
* 6 External links
* 7 Footnotes

## Background[edit]

Ohio's school districts adopted the OSBA constitution on December 4, 1955.[1] As of December 2025, OSBA's described its mission in the following terms:[4]

“  |

OSBA engages and serves Ohio's public school board members and the diverse districts they represent by fostering or delivering:

* Excellence in governance
* Steadfast advocacy
* Superior services
* Relevant professional development
* Customized training[5]

| ”

|
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## Leadership[edit]

As of April 2025, the following individuals held leadership positions at OSBA:[6]

* Tom Hosler, chief executive officer
* Drew Clark, chief technology officer
* Sara Clark, chief legal counsel
* Allison Morris, chief financial officer

## Work and activities[edit]

As of December 2025, OSBE provided a number of services to members ranging from resources for new board members to assistance with superintendent searches.[2] OSBE's other offerings included legislative advocacy, insurance programs, legal services, school board policy development, and survey and evaluation tools.[2]

### Legislative and policy work[edit]

According to its website, OSBA advocacy work included tracking education-related education and talking with lawmakers about the organization's legislative priorities. The OBSA stated its lobbyists attend legislative hearings on issues affecting education.[7]

In 2025 the OSBA supported legislation that:[8]

* Developed and funded "adult education programs in Ohio’s public schools."
* Allowed "school districts to collaboratively create alternative schools to address unique student needs" and provided "state funding for those schools."
* Aligned "state assessment laws with the federal requirements" and provided "school districts with flexibility and proper resources to meet their students’ needs."
* Enabled "locally elected boards of education to make decisions regarding the adoption of curriculum, textbooks and instructional materials, with advice and input from staff, parents, students and community members."
* Furthered "the ability of educators to maintain control of their classrooms, buildings, facilities and other school property, and offers appropriate discipline measures as determined by locally developed, board-approved policy and/or district procedures."
* Created "an inclusive environment that ensures that our students have a future that allows all students to be successful, no matter their race, ethnicity or socioeconomic background."

The OBSA opposed legislation that:

* Subjected "school districts to a one-size-fits-all approach that fails to recognize the unique needs of individual students and individual school districts."
* Did not "not include all students in the baseline beginning in kindergarten and continuing through grade three."
* Mandated "board member training."
* Authorized "the sponsorship of charter/community schools by an entity other than the locally elected board of education."
* Imposed "mandatory open enrollment policies" and mandated "expansion of open enrollment to noncontiguous districts."
* Expanded "vouchers, scholarships, tuition tax credits and similar programs at either the state or federal levels."

## Finances[edit]

The following is a breakdown of OSBA's revenues and expenses from 2014 to 2023. The information comes from ProPublica.

Ohio School Boards Association's financial data 2014-2023Year| Revenue| Expenses

|
|

2014| $7.9 million| $7.6 million
2015| $8.0 million| $7.6 million
2016| $8.4 million| $7.8 million
2017| $8.6 million| $7.6 million
2018| $8.8 million| $8.1 million
2019| $9.0 million| $8.3 million
2020| $7.6 million| $7.4 million
2021| $9.3 million| $7.9 million
2022| $9.7 million| $8.3 million
2023| $10.1 million| $9.1 million

## See also[edit]

* What is an influencer?
* Public education in Ohio
* List of school districts in Ohio
* Consortium of State School Boards Associations

## External links[edit]

* Ohio School Boards Association official website

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ohio School Boards Association, "Who we are," accessed December 4, 2025
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ohio School Boards Association, "Homepage," accessed December 4, 2025
3. ↑ Ohio School Boards Association, "NSBA Letter," October 25, 2021
4. ↑ [https://www.ohioschoolboards.org/osba-mission-and-vision Ohio School Boards Association, "OSBA Mission and Vision," accessed December 4, 2025
5. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
6. ↑ Ohio School Boards Association, "Staff Directory," accessed December 4, 2025
7. ↑ Ohio School Boards Association, "Legislative issues," accessed December 5, 2025
8. ↑ Ohio School Boards Association, "Legislative Platform," accessed December 5, 2025

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