Probe focuses on 100 schools for now

Assicuated Press

DAYTON

A statewide investigation into whether schools manipulated their enrollment and attendance numbers in order to boost their performance is focusing on 100 schools for now.

Investigators are concentrating on schools that have raised concerns based on data that shows they had a high number of student withdrawals, the state auditor’s office told The Dayton Daily News.

Removing poor students from the books can boost performance measures that determine government aid and employee bonuses and improve school performance rankings. Ohio has delayed its release of annual school report cards because of the investigation until the state can be sure the underlying data is accurate.

Ohio Auditor David Yost launched a statewide probe after irregular enrollment and attendance practices were discovered in Columbus, Toledo and suburban Cincinnati districts.

State auditors have begun examining records in 100 schools — about 3 percent of Ohio’s 3,688 public schools.

“We determined the first 100 schools at least appear to have some indicators that we should look at them first,” said auditor’s office spokeswoman Carrie Bartunek. “We will continue to look at other schools as well.”

Officials would not identify the specific schools.

The auditor’s office is hoping to finish most of its investigation before the November election when many schools will have levies on the ballot. “But it is an enormous amount of work, particularly when you have to start working at the sites themselves,” Bartunek told the Dayton newspaper.

Falsely reporting attendance data is a violation of state and federal law, according to the auditor’s office.

Yost notified school superintendents in August that he thought most districts had reported their numbers properly. “Others may have acted improperly, but with the belief that their practices were acceptable. It seems likely that still others acted deliberately,” he said in an email to administrators.