One of the state’s largest public school districts will no longer be allowed to sponsor charter schools.
The Ohio Board of Education voted 15-0 Monday to revoke the Cincinnati Public School District’s status as a charter school sponsor. Board member Pat Bruns from Cincinnati abstained from the vote.
The revocation came after the district received a “poor” rating for the 2015-2016 school year from the state Department of Education.
Cincinnati’s charter ratings did improve in the 2016-2017 academic year, according to ODE records, but it takes only one poor rating for the department to end a sponsorship under Ohio law.
In 2015, Cincinnati received an F for academic performance and 0 out of 4 points for quality, a category made up of a variety of operational measures.
The district appealed the rating of its quality practices through an administrative process, but revocation was recommended by an independent hearing officer.
Cincinnati Public Schools sponsors two charters. Both will be taken over by ODE’s Office of School Sponsorship, which ran 25 charter schools during the 2016-2017 school year.
More than two dozen city and local school districts sponsor charter schools in Ohio.
Cleveland Metropolitan School District sponsors more than any other public district with 11 charter schools.
