Ohio Supreme Court says online school can’t challenge state order to pay $60M
The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, a now closed online Ohio charter school, can't challenge an order that it must repay $60 million to the state, a divided Ohio Supreme Court said Tuesday.
In a 4-3 split decision, the court determined that the State Board of Education's decision is final and not subject to an appeal in court. The court was divided over how the word “final” should be interpreted.
It is unclear how the state will recover the money. ECOT'S headquarters and assets were auctioned off in June 2018.
“This is a win for the state and gives us the legal authority to start the clawback process. We also argued our case a year ago and are waiting on a summary judgment to try to go after (ECOT founder Bill) Lager's personal assets,” said a spokeswoman for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Founded in 2000 by Lager, ECOT and its affiliated for-profit companies collected about $1 billion in state money over nearly two decades.
In September 2016, the Ohio Department of Education determined ECOT had overstated its student headcount and the state demanded repayment of $64 million. The figure was later adjusted to $60 million. ECOT reported it served more than 15,300 students but state authorities determined that was inflated by about 60%.
In January 2018 the school abruptly shut down. Five months later, in May, then-state auditor Dave Yost issued a critical report that raised allegations of fraud. The audit was referred to federal authorities.
The supreme court majority decision was written by Justice Pat Dewine and joined by Maureen O'connor, Patrick Fischer and Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge W. Scott Gwin, who sat in for Jennifer Brunner, who didn't participate in the case. Joining Justice Sharon Kennedy's dissent were Michael Donnelly and Melody Stewart.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.