‘Ohio 8’ school districts target data system, saying state failed to train them properly

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio’s eight largest big-city school districts say they have experienced numerous problems understanding and using the computer system that’s at the center of a statewide data-tampering investigation.

The powerful “Ohio 8” alliance says in a new analysis that the Ohio Department of Education has failed to adequately train districts on how to use the Educational Management Information System, or EMIS, and reports generated for them through the system can be late, missing or filled with errors.

The analysis produced by the districts and provided to The Associated Press also says EMIS allows a student to be assigned more than one identification number. That muddies the schools’ ability to track the child’s attendance and academic progress and sometimes causes their new district to lose funding associated with the student.

The coalition said it wants to work with the state Education Department to address the problems districts have experienced with EMIS. The group includes districts and unions in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo, Dayton, Akron, Canton and Youngstown that control nearly $3 billion in combined budgets and 200,000 students.

State Auditor Dave Yost is investigating allegations that certain Ohio districts might have manipulated attendance and enrollment data.