Fedor responds to e-school truancy review by charter sponsor amid troubling new findings

Ranking Democratic member on the House Education Committee, State Rep. Teresa Fedor (D-Toledo) today issued the following statement in response to findings of a review launched by The Ohio Council of Community Schools after allegations the Ohio Virtual Academy failed to withdraw hundreds of chronically truant students to pad its rolls.

“The detailed information my office received demands a thorough investigation and I do not feel an objective review was conducted. As the sponsor of Ohio Virtual Academy and recipient of three percent of its operating budget, the Ohio Council of Community Schools has a conflict of interest. I do not have confidence in a report conducted by its sponsor. I eagerly await the results of Ohio Auditor of State Dave Yost’s inspection.”

This afternoon, Auditor Dave Yost held a press conference addressing a three-year audit review of inflated attendance at a Kids County Inc. of Dayton sponsored charter school. The auditor says officials at the now-closed school rigged attendance data by some 50 percent, defrauding the state’s taxpayers of $1.1 million.