By Dayton Driver

May 6, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this

Irony oh mother irony! I know of several suburban students who attend the better schools in DPS who offer things that the suburbans don’t (i.e. - all girls and boys academy, Stiver’s).

By Laura

May 5, 2008 8:21 PM | Link to this

Re: Keith’s comment that students attend nearby districts. This has been going on for a long time. I remember years ago getting a new student late in the school year. It turned out that he and siblings originally lived in Kettering but moved to Dayton. Mom didn’t want kids going to DPS so she drove them to Kettering every day. Somehow, the principal was alerted to the high school student living out of district and made him transfer. Mom kept bringing the younger siblings. For some reason, after a while, someone had an “aha!” moment and remembered there were younger siblings. They checked into it and of course, they had to transfer, too. Mom thought it was really unfair that they couldn’t continue going to school where they always had gone if she was transporting them. And, I’m not talking about finishing out a school year, either.

By Keith

May 5, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this

The job of keeping track of REAL kids enrolled at charters falls to the state. It shouldn’t be hard to match up existing kids with income tax statements claiming them by social security number to verify there are real kids and they are not being claimed in more than one school for funding. I know of a past situation where charter schools were very slow to dropping students from their claims monthly for the funding the Republicans were so gleefully passing out in the good old days to the miracle schools. Somehow those charter schools just couldn’t get the records updated—sort of like getting an evicted tenant out when mooching off the landlord is so, well, “free.” The state has loads of money for planes, cars, pork, etc., but didn’t seem to really want to track kids and verify kids.

By Dave

May 5, 2008 9:05 AM | Link to this

Scott, on what legal basis does the state BOE want the AG to appeal to the supreme court? Since an appeals court backed up the original court, they APPEAR to be stalling. Can we clarify why they feel both courts are wrong?

By Old Coach

May 4, 2008 11:36 PM | Link to this

C’mon Carl. There are ex and current employees of charters that have said that they still have kids on their roster that have been gone for 2 years. It’s been a while since this was told to me (so I will not quote)but I have heard it from more than 2 ex and current employees. I’m not downing all of them either but when we allowed charters to be for profit we opened the doors for alot of unscrupulous behavior into the education field.

By Oldprof

May 4, 2008 10:43 PM | Link to this

Wick: OBE did not even have a consistent system to identify students. Different numbers were used to i.d. students in publics and charters. Your statement “to clarify” is in fact nothing more than self-serving rhetoric—nothing more than I’d expect from a self-serving political appointee.

By Carl Wick, State Board of Education Member

May 4, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this

To clarify inaccurate information stated in some comments, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) relies on district reporting. The charters had their counts correct — they count monthly. It was the districts that were claiming students they didn’t have, not the charter schools. ODE was able to document the discrepancy. When ODE tried to use the more accurate count was when the districts sued. And the money in dispute is really the difference in how district guarantees are calculated, not the student ADM count. And subsequently, the legislature passed and the governor (not the State Board of Education) signed a law clarifying the count issue. In either case, districts are basically looking to be paid for students they haven’t had in their classrooms for perhaps years. The State Board is simply following the law.

By Mary

May 4, 2008 2:12 PM | Link to this

I agree with Keith’s comments that imply district hopping should be interesting. I wonder if the “crowded classroom” problems and construction levies on the ballot in some suburban districts here are partly due to this district hopping while adjacent districts close buildings. Also, the school district boundaries, apparently drawn by the State Board of Education maybe a hundred years ago do not always coincide with municipal boundaries, and are rarely, if ever, redrawn. This is something the public is not always aware of, and probably do not realize this impacts voters in other precincts who vote on school district issues normally associated with another municipality. Also, some “open” suburban districts apparently accept students from other districts mainly because of sports, which really should be and probably is a no-no, but I get the feeling some superintendents abuse this policy, as well.

By Rick

May 4, 2008 12:31 PM | Link to this

The voters of Ohio knew that he was ethically challenged but they elected him anyway. I don’t think he should resign; we knew what we were getting and we deserve him.

By TRS

May 4, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this

Dann’s only support left is from the OEA - he will do their bidding. Apparently he is more dedicated to them than his family. Aside from the moral issue he is lacking as a legal judgment, is a poor manager and simply has no common sense.

By keith

May 4, 2008 8:50 AM | Link to this

SCOTT: How about a topic on this problem for the suburban districts? http://www.daytondailynews.com/search/content/gen/ap/OHStudentOutsiders.html Ohio district offers reward for tips on nonresident students AKRON, Ohio � A suburban district is offering $100 for tips on children who aren’t supposed to be attending the schools because they live outside the district, and it’s paying off. Four people have collected rewards, and Julie Schafer, a school board member in the Copley-Fairlawn district, said others have provided tips but turned down the financial incentive since the deal began in September. The crackdown was prompted by bus drivers who saw students getting off in front of vacant buildings or parents in cars dropping off students at bus stops. District officials suspected 100 of its 3,500 students live outside the district. Since September, 45 such students have left and six others stayed and paid the annual nonresident tuition of $7,614. The Ohio Department of Education is unaware of any other financial incentive program of its kind in the state, spokesman Scott Blake said Wednesday. The Copley-Fairlawn district attracts nonresident students because of its “excellent” rating from the state based on proficiency test scores and other factors, assistant Superintendent Brian Poe said. The northeast Ohio district includes Fairlawn, Copley Township and small parts of Akron and Bath Township. Nonresident students often surface in “inner-ring” communities next to urban districts, according to Peggy Caldwell, a spokeswoman for schools in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, which has an investigator to check for outsiders. “It’s a constant concern, and we’re vigilant,” Caldwell said. Like Copley-Fairlawn, the suspicions of bus drivers can be ignited when a child is dropped off and gets into a waiting car, she said. About 60 youngsters have been removed from the 5,500-student Shaker Heights district in the past year, Caldwell said. Seventy-five percent of cases investigated turn out to be legitimate, such as a child leaving the district after school to stay with a parent who shares custody, she said. In Copley-Fairlawn schools, the district believes taxpayers should not have to support students who rightfully should attend other schools, Poe said. “We have good, solid class sizes,” he said. Like some other districts, Copley-Fairlawn hired a firm to track down students suspected of not living in the district and even had staff members follow students home. Out-of district students aren’t just a problem for the districts they attend, said Scott Ebright of the Ohio School Boards Association. The student’s real home district misses out on state money, which is calculated in part by attendance numbers.

By Oldprof

May 4, 2008 8:43 AM | Link to this

It takes no time to refuse to waste state money trying to prop up the state Board of Education’s incompetence. Dann can decide not to appeal in the half-minute before he announces his resignation.

By Mary

May 4, 2008 7:18 AM | Link to this

I just keep wondering which team sports AG Dann played. Since team sports builds leadership, I was wondering which group we should thank for nurturing his outstanding leadership qualities.