Earlier this week, the State Board of Education unanimously voted to delay publication of the 2011-2012 Local Report Cards pending the ongoing investigation of alleged improper attendance reporting by the State Auditor and Ohio Department of Education (ODE).
We apologize for any inconvenience and empathize with school districts dealing with the ramifications caused by this decision. We know how important Local Report Cards are to a community and to individual schools. We also understand the impact of the delay on planning and funding.
The report cards are intended to give an accurate picture of how well schools are doing and we do not believe that they should be released with a cloud hanging over their reliability. Auditor Yost is expected to release his findings this fall and until those findings are out and any problems corrected, it would be irresponsible to issue Local Report Cards.
We want to be clear that the delay in the release of report cards is not an attempt to blame all districts for the alleged bad actions of a few. In fact, we want to commend the school districts who have accurately submitted their data in a timely manner year after year. Thank you for your efforts and your integrity.
The State Board of Education will revisit this issue when it meets on Sept. 10. In the interim, schools will continue to have access to preliminary results, including levels of student achievement reflected on required state assessments, via the Secure Data Center (SDC). The achievement data and reports presently available will permit school personnel to assess student level, grade level, and building/district data to continue to plan to meet student needs for the 2012-2013 school year.
ODE will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.
Source: Ohio Department of Education/Ohio.gov