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Ohio Auditor Won’t Review Charter School Report Omissions

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Ohio Auditor Dave Yost says he lacks jurisdiction and so won’t investigate circumstances surrounding a former state official’s decision to exclude failing grades from state charter school evaluations.

In a Wednesday letter to Senate Democratic Leader Joe Schiavoni, of Youngstown, Yost says he can’t conduct a review because then-School Choice Director David Hansen’s actions were caught before any state money was spent.

Hansen resigned July 18 after leaving F grades for online and dropout recovery schools off evaluations of charter school sponsors. He said he felt the marks would “mask” successes elsewhere.

The state retracted the altered reports.

Still, Yost says Hansen’s actions appear “noncompliant with Ohio law.” Yost says his office will review the program Hansen oversaw during the department’s next regular audit, which just began.