COLUMBUS, Ohio – The state says three years’ worth of report cards for the Columbus City Schools will have to be recalculated or corrected amid a widening data-scrubbing investigation.
The Ohio Department of Education says report cards for the Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo districts for the 2011-12 school year will be recalculated and their 2012-13 ratings will be scrutinized as the agency expands its investigation about whether schools improperly altered student attendance data. In addition, Columbus will have its 2010-2011 report card corrected after the department determined that the district improperly reported data for that school year.
A department spokesman said Wednesday that evidence of 2011-12 data alterations prompted further review of the following year.
New report cards for that year were issued earlier for schools in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo and three more districts that were found to have changed attendance data to improve performance ratings.
The department also is investigating whether any licensed educators were involved with improper data reporting, which he says will not be tolerated, state superintendent Dr. Richard Ross said.
“We will continue to investigate data submissions and also the actions of individuals to determine if any professional conduct sanctions, up to and including suspension or revocation of licensure, should be conveyed,” he said.
The department will issue new 2012 report cards for Northridge School District in Licking County because district officials misreported data. Since there were only two student records potentially involved for 2012-2013 year, the department will not investigate data for that year
Ross says the department did not find any further evidence of misreporting from the Campbell and Winton Woods school districts so no new report cards will be issued.