Chapter 3301-17 | Reports for Statewide Education Management Information System

(A) "Reporting entity" refers to city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school districts, community schools, educational service centers, and any other educational entities that submit data to the department of education and workforce pursuant to section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code.

(B) "Data reporting issue" refers to incomplete or inaccurate data; reported data that does not conform to the data parameters and descriptions published by the department; data not reported or data not reported in a timely manner; and/or data not reported in good faith.

(C) "Department" means the department of education and workforce.

(D) "State funds" means school foundation program funding or other sources of state funding provided by the department in the fiscal year in which a withholding is applied.

(A) Any reporting entity that needs to submit a corrective action plan to the department of education and workforce has thirty days to provide a corrective action plan to the department, unless the magnitude of the data reporting issue necessitates a shorter response time.

(B) The department may provide assistance to a reporting entity in the development of a corrective action plan; however, any corrective action plan submitted to the department will be subject to approval by the department.

(C) A corrective action plan may include, but not be limited to, the following components:

(1) An explanation of how and why the identified data reporting issues occurred;

(2) The steps the reporting entity will take, directly related to the identified data reporting issues, to either eliminate all identified data reporting issues or stop the data reporting issues from occurring again;

(3) A statement of how the district will support, financially or otherwise, the steps outlined to address the identified data reporting issues; and

(4) Approval by the superintendent or chief administrator, agreeing to implement the steps outlined in the corrective action plan.

(A) The factors the department of education and workforce will consider when applying a financial penalty may include, but not be limited to, the following:

(1) Type of data reporting issue;

(2) Magnitude of the data reporting issue;

(3) Whether a good faith effort was made by the reporting entity as determined by the department.

(4) Withholdings applied in similar situations with other reporting entities;

(5) Data reporting history of the reporting entity; and

(6) The reporting entity's response to previous withholdings and other actions taken by the department regarding the reporting entity's data reporting practices.

(B) If any action taken under division (L)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code resolves a reporting entity's outstanding data reporting issues to the department's satisfaction, the department will not take any further action described by that division, except that the department may subject a reporting entity to sanctions if the department determines that a data reporting issue has reoccurred or the reporting entity has otherwise violated the reporting provisions of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code.

(C) Any time a reporting entity becomes subject to a higher degree of sanctioning as provided for in division (L)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code, the department will notify the reporting entity and its board of education or sponsor in writing of such an escalation at least thirty days before the department withholds any additional funding as a result of the higher degree of sanction along with the basis for such withholding.

(D) In cases where a revised report card is issued under division (L)(2)(d)(viii) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code, the department will also identify the impact of issuing a revised report card and include a statement to that effect with the notification.

Any time the department of education and workforce takes an action against a reporting entity under division (L)(2) of section 3301.0714 of the Revised Code, the department will make a report of the circumstances that prompted the action and maintain a copy in its files. Notwithstanding the notification provided for in paragraph (C) of rule 3301-17-06 of the Administrative Code, the department will send a copy of the report to the superintendent or chief administrator of the reporting entity within thirty days of issuance of the report and before the department withholds any funding.