EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — A judge in Franklin County has ruled that East Cleveland City School District's efforts to stop the takeover by Ohio Department of Education's Academic Distress Commission can proceed.
East Cleveland City Schools believe there were data errors made by the Ohio Department of Education in their 2017-18 report card, which gave the District an 'F.'
In a press release issued on Friday, East Cleveland City Schools stated that the Ohio Department of Education knew that one of their administrators admitted that "there are winners and losers depending on which data are used to calculate the grade."
"This is a significant victory for the East Cleveland City School District," said East Cleveland City School District Board of Education President Dr. Una Keenon said in a statement.
A key part of Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kim Brown's ruling allows the district to receive data from the report card that was previously being withheld by the Ohio Department of Education. East Cleveland City Schools believes for the first time that they will be able to analyze to see if the data and calculations used to determine the 'F' grade contained errors.
East Cleveland is one of three local schools under control by the Academic Distress Commission, established after the passing of H.B. 70 in the state legislature. The Youngstown City School District is currently challenging H.B. 70 in the Ohio Supreme Court. The Lorain City School District is also under state control.
"We strongly believe that a locally elected Board of Education is best positioned to realize that goal and will continue to oppose any efforts to the contrary," Dr. Keenon added.
