Education department still weighing fate of 11 poorly rated charter sponsors
When the state rated 21 Ohio charter-school sponsors as “poor” in October, those sponsors were to permanently lose their authority to oversee charter schools.
Eight months later, with this year’s evaluations about to begin again, the Ohio Department of Education is still working on what will happen with 11 “poor” sponsors, including Hamilton Local, London, Newark, Pickerington and Reynoldsburg schools.
According to the department, 10 of the 21 cases are resolved:
‒ Five sponsors, including Groveport Madison schools, appealed their “poor” ratings and reached settlements.
‒ Lima City Schools, Rittman Exempted Village Schools and the Summit County Educational Service Center didn’t appeal and the department’s Office of School Sponsorship became the overseer of their schools.
‒ Southwest Licking and Lakewood Local schools, both in Licking County, closed their digital academies before the ratings were issued.
On Wednesday night, the school board for Groveport Madison approved a settlement with the state that will convert Cruiser Academy, a dropout-prevention charter, into a regular school with the same mission of helping at-risk students recover credits. Students from other districts can attend, but only if their superintendents make an agreement with Groveport Madison. The school will have its own state report card because it occupies a building separate from the district’s other schools.
Under the agreement, if Groveport Madison eventually decides that it wants to sponsor again, it could apply.
Likewise, the Pickerington Board of Education voted in May to convert its dropout-prevention charter school, the Pickerington Community School, into the district-run Pickerington Alternative School for next fall. It will offer the Education department still weighing fate of 11 poorly rated charter sponsors:
