Our champion
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine was today named a 2022 Champion for Charter Schools award winner by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS). “Thank you, Governor DeWine, for your steadfast support of public charter schools, their students, families, and communities,” said NAPCS President and CEO Nina Rees in announcing the distinguished award.
Top of the list
Congratulations to the staff, students, and families of Arts and College Preparatory Academy (ACPA) in Columbus. ACPA was the highest-ranked charter school in the state of Ohio in the recent list of best high schools released by U.S. News and World Report. Kudos to all!
Court news
The Ohio Supreme Court this week issued a ruling in a twelve-year-old Dayton charter school case in which a former school leader had been sued to recover funds embezzled by the treasurer. The new ruling noted that the school leader had not “received or collected” the money and thus was not in control of any of the funds that had been embezzled.
Further legal news
Some interesting movements are noted in the pending case where Groveport-Madison Local School District is contesting fines levied on them for failure to adequately transport charter and private school students…although none of those developments are actually part of that actual case. First up, the fine amount has been reduced from $700,000 to just less than $165,000. Second, the amount already deducted from Groveport by ODE to begin repayment is less than half of that fine amount. Third, and most important, the district has also sued one of its transportation vendors over the matter and is looking to replace them for the upcoming school year.
Significant revisions
The Urban Institute recently updated a portion of the findings from a national study they conducted of school funding patterns. Specifically, they fixed the way in which their formula accounted for funds flowing to charter schools. The results now show that students from low-income families in Pennsylvania and Ohio have received slightly less funding for their schools than wealthier students for many years. It is an almost 180-degree difference in the previous findings.
The view from West Virginia
Preliminary data indicate that West Virginia’s first five charter schools—on track to open this fall, if everything goes well—will welcome at least 1,500 students. The enrollment numbers are being led by two of the three brick-and-mortar schools.
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