COLUMBUS — The state wants to help the families of the roughly 12,000 Ohio students from the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow who are scrambling to arrange other schooling options since the online charter school closed abruptly halfway through the academic year.
The publicly funded e-school has been running out of money amid a legal dispute with the state. ECOT’s closure shifted from a possibility to a reality when the required oversight entity known as its sponsor decided Thursday to suspend that arrangement. ECOT says the state rejected a proposal from the e-school that was aimed at keeping it open through the spring.
“Districts and schools have already taken actions to streamline and accelerate their enrollment processes. We know the entire education community will come together with care and compassion in the best interest of these students,” state school superintendent Paolo DeMaria said.
Ohio’s public school districts would have to accept any returning local ECOT students, but some families refuse to go back to those schools. Some are considering other virtual schools or homeschooling.