COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Columbus City Schools paid performance bonuses to staff members at schools where student attendance data was “scrubbed” to improve test scores and now the district wants the money back.
Under a program known as Gainsharing, the district paid “performance based incentives” to teachers, administrators and support staff in schools that reached a level of achievement known as Adequate Yearly Progress on yearly reported cards issued by the state Department of Education.
Bonuses were paid to staff member in nine District schools whose report cards were among those recently recalculated amid the “data-scrubbing” scandal, district superintendent Dr. Dan Good said.
Report cards issued in August 2011 showed that Africentric Early College High School, Eastmoor Academy High School, Marion-Franklin High School, Mifflin High School, Whetstone High School, Como Elementary School, Parkmoor Elementary School, West Mound Elementary School and Westgate Elementary School had met the yearly progress benchmark for the 2010-11 school year and bonuses were awarded to staff members, Good said
After the practice of data-scrubbing – altering the attendance records of low-performing students to improve overall school test scores – came to light, the Education Department recalculated the report cards of several Columbus schools and changed the designations for the nine schools from “Met” to “Not Met” for the 2010-11 year, Good said.
Current district employees who received bonuses based on the 2010-11 data from the nine schools can repay the bonuses in a lump-sum or by payroll deduction between now and next June, Good said. He says former employees will have the option of making a lump-sum payment or paying in monthly installments.
The district delayed bonus payment decisions for the 2011-13 school years until the state finished its examination of the district’s data, Good said. After the review was completed in August, bonuses were paid to employees who worked in schools that met their progress goals for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years, he said.