Some Ohio charter schools must buy back taxpayer-purchased equipment

COLUMBUS (AP) — A specific group of charter schools must buy back equipment like textbooks and computers from their management company, even though the company used taxpayer dollars to purchase the items originally, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled today.

In a 5-2 decision that looked only at contract language, the court ruled in favor of Akron-based White Hat Management by holding that the contract the schools signed with the company requires them to purchase the equipment such as textbooks, computers and furniture from the business.

But in a second, 4-3 decision with broader implications that favored the schools, the court said White Hat had so much control over the schools’ operations that it amounted to a business partnership known as a fiduciary relationship.

“It is evident that the schools have granted broad discretion to White Hat, placing special confidence and trust in the management companies and placing them in positions of superiority and influence,” Justice Judith Lanzinger wrote for the majority.