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Closed On-Line School Appeals $64 Million Refund Order

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An attorney for the former on-line school, Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, better known as ECOT, today told the Ohio Supreme Court that the school had trouble keeping up with state regulations because the Ohio Board of Education rules kept changing, depending on “what day of the week it was.” Attorney Marion Little, representing ECOT, argued that the school should not have to refund $64 million in state support. The refund order issued by the state in 2016 followed a finding that the school had been overpaid, based on actual attendance figures.

>> Ohio online charter school ECOT may close by next week

Representing the State Board of Education, attorney Erik Clark argued that the refund order should stand, defending the Board of Education action.  Clark told the Court that the Board of Education did not take arbitrary regulatory action against ECOT as the school’s case alleged.

ECOT, which opened in 2000, was the state’s largest and best known on-line school. At one point they listed school enrollment at 11,400 students and even rented Value City Arena, home of Ohio State University basketball, for their graduation ceremony.  After legal skirmishes with the state over funding ECOT closed in 2018. The conflict centered on how many students the school had, how often they actually logged onto education courses on any given day and how much the school should receive in state financial support.

The Court is expected to issue a decision in the case in three to six months.

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