Ohio’s Auditor said on Monday that his staff has spent 7,000 hours and more than $140,000 on an investigating into whether Columbus City Schools officials manipulated attendance records.
“What I heard is, they are angry, they are concerned about what’s going on, they want to get to the bottom of this, and they want to do the right thing,” State Auditor Dave Yost said.
Yost said that the state lists students by number rather than name, so investigators have had to visit each district, which he said was driving up cost.
Yost said that school districts with levies on the November ballot should have the results of the investigation before the election. He said the rest of the investigation would be completed by the end of the year.
Yost set up a hotline in August for staff members of the Columbus City Schools employees to report any information about potential manipulation of attendance records.
The investigation began after irregular enrollment was found in Columbus, Toledo schools and the Lockland school district outside of Cincinnati.
Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for more information.
Previous Story:
September 10, 2012: Auditor: Probe Not Affected By Report Card Release
August 10, 2012: Auditor Receives 2 Dozen Calls Regarding School Attendance Investigation
August 9, 2012: Hotline Established For Columbus School Employees To Report Attendance Record Manipulation
August 7, 2012: Superintendent: District Did Not Manipulate Data To ‘Cheat
June 15, 2012: Columbus Schools Putting Microscope To Attendance Reporting; Inconsistencies Found