ECOT, one of the nation's largest online charter schools, is locked in a fight with the Ohio Department of Education over tens of millions of dollars. Now it's asking the Ohio Supreme Court to step in.
The call is the latest step in a months-long fight between the Ohio DOE and the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.
Ohio says ECOT must repay more than $60 million in funding because the school can’t prove thousands of students spent a certain amount of time logged on, which is how the state monitors attendance for online students.
ECOT, which boasts about 15,000 students, has fought the state the entire way, saying they have an agreement that lets them monitor attendance differently.
Courts and a DOE hearing officer have sided with the state, so the school on Wednesday asked the Ohio Supreme Court to intervene.
ECOT also accused the state board of illegally meeting in private. Board members deny that, and the complaint is pending in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
