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2025-2026 FAQ

General Evaluation Questions

1. Which sponsors are included in the 2025-2026 evaluation? Which are exempted?
Per House Bill 96 Section 733.70(A), which was passed by the 136^th Ohio General Assembly in July 2025, “The Department of Education and Workforce shall evaluate each sponsor of a community school pursuant to section 3314.016 of the Revised Code for the 2025-2026 school year.”

All sponsors, regardless of prior ratings and related exemption statuses, will be evaluated in the 2025-2026 cycle.

2. What happens if I upload documentation to Epicenter that has personally identifiable information (PII)?
When uploading documents to Epicenter for the sponsor evaluation review, sponsors should not submit documentation that contains personally identifiable information. Personally identifiable information, such as dates of birth and social security numbers, is not pertinent to the evaluation. Documentation with personally identifiable information will be removed from Epicenter and will not be considered in the sponsor evaluation review.

3. Where can I find any changes that have been made since the last evaluation cycle?
Sponsors can review the Quality Rubric Change Log and the Compliance Worksheet Change Log to find a list of all changes made to these components of the evaluation. The Sponsor Worksheets and Quality Rubric will also have any changes notes in red font.

4. Will I need to upload any documents for items or standards selected for review if the item or standard has been determined to be "Not Applicable"? For instance, if a school doesn't serve grades 9-12, and the item is only applicable to 9-12 schools, will I need to create a document to upload that explains why the item is "N/A"?

For compliance items that are reviewed, sponsors do not need to create or upload any documents for an item that is not applicable to the school/sponsor. Instead, sponsors should enter text in the item’s narrative box in Epicenter to explain why the item is not applicable. The Epicenter instructions for each compliance item should read like this:

If the Certification Determination for this item is “Sponsor Certified Not Applicable,” please enter the text “Sponsor Certified Not Applicable” as the narrative for this item. No additional documentation is required for items that do not apply.

For quality standards that are reviewed, a separate memo document must be created and uploaded for any standard/partial standard that is not applicable that explains why the standard is not applicable.

Compliance Component Questions

1. When I enter the IRN for the school or sponsor on the compliance worksheet(s), I receive an error message. What should I do?
Sponsors should reach out to the sponsor evaluation staff at sponsor.evaluation@education.ohio.gov to request corrections to school or sponsor names and to resolve any other issues with the compliance worksheets.

2. Will Epicenter open in December so sponsors can upload the required compliance documentation for each item?
Epicenter will open in December for document submission. However, for compliance, sponsors only have to submit the completed worksheets, the completed certification sign-off form and any applicable Corrective Action Plans by June 30, 2026. A randomly selected item list for validation will be released on July 1, 2026. Sponsors will have until July 22, 2026, to submit documents responsive to items on that list for each school.

3. How will the Department validate compliance items on the compliance worksheets?
To meet the requirements of Ohio Administrative Code 3301-102-08, the Department must validate randomly selected items from the sponsor’s certification of compliance with all applicable laws and rules listed on the compliance worksheets. In addition to the items for which sponsors will submit documentation or that are validated during an on-site review, additional items will be selected for validation using information available at the Department. Compliance items for the sponsor, as well as for the sponsor’s schools, will be randomly selected from the validation pool, which is included on the compliance worksheets.

4. Can sponsors use their compliance worksheets from previous years as a starting point for the current evaluation cycle?
No. Although the item numbers remain the same from year to year, the compliance worksheets are updated annually to reflect stakeholder feedback, provide clarification and incorporate any legislative changes. Further, the logic formulas for the worksheets may change due to changes in the questions. For convenience, changes from the previous evaluation cycle to the current evaluation cycle are highlighted or presented in a different color font on the current evaluation cycle’s tools and are also included on the change log.

5. What do I need to know regarding the efficiency questions on the Oversight of Schools worksheet?
To facilitate ease of use of the Oversight of Schools worksheet, the efficiency questions, which were previously located at the top of the worksheet, have been moved to their own tab on the worksheet. The efficiency questions work exactly the same way as they previously did. Sponsors, however, will now have to answer the efficiency questions on a separate tab and then move from the Efficiency Questions tab to the “Sponsor Oversight of Schools” tab to complete the worksheet.

Note: As in previous evaluation cycles, the efficiency questions only work if they are answered before answering any questions on the “Sponsor Oversight of Schools” tab of the worksheet. Sponsors that decide not to complete the efficiency questions or that answer the questions on the “Sponsor Oversight of Schools” tab first will not have any answers to the compliance items auto-filled.

6. Many of the policies are required by the Ohio Administrative Code or Ohio Revised Code. If the policy was submitted last year and has not changed, does it need to be resubmitted?
Policies should be reviewed and updated regularly to meet compliance requirements, as well as to reflect any changes in legislation. If the sponsor would like to use documentation that has been previously submitted against a new requirement, it can be done using the “reuse” or “previously uploaded file” functions in Epicenter. Please contact the Epicenter Help Desk or the sponsor’s assigned consultant from the Office of Community Schools with any additional questions or for Epicenter assistance.

7. Pupil Transportation – Do community schools that do not provide daily transportation to and from school for their students but do provide transportation for field trips need to comply with pupil transportation laws?
Yes, any community school, employees of the community school or contracted vendors of the community school that provide transportation for any students of the school must follow all legal requirements pertaining to pupil transportation.

8. Pupil Transportation – How would the worksheet get completed if the school provides some level of transportation to its students using a public transit vehicle and/or commercial carrier?
Sponsors that complete the worksheet for a school that provides transportation services using public transit vehicles and/or commercial carriers should make sure that they answer Question 8 (Q8) of the Efficiency Questions. Based on the answer provided for Q8, either: 1) some compliance items will be auto-filled as Not Applicable or 2) sponsors will need to answer the applicable compliance items listed for Q8. Responses should reflect the transportation for which they do not use public transit vehicles or commercial carriers.

9. What defines "motor vans" used for student transportation?

OAC 3301-83-04 (B)(4) defines "motor van" as a vehicle originally designed for not more than twelve passengers, not including the driver. Sponsors should keep this definition in mind when answering any efficiency questions and/or individual items questions related to transportation on the compliance worksheets.

10. #113 - What exact identification is the “Ohio Improvement Process” referring to?
Item 113 is referring to schools identified through the Department's federal ESSA plan for federal accountability. Schools could be identified as needing comprehensive support and improvement (CSI), targeted support and improvement (TSI), or additional targeted support and improvement (ATSI). Identified schools receive a notification through the Office of School and District Improvement, and the notification letter outlines the requirements for these schools.

11. #401-A & #401-B – The ORC law pertaining to Item 401-B was amended in HB 96, with a policy not being required until August 1, 2026. Is this item still applicable for the 2025-26 sponsor evaluation and if so, how do I respond to items 401-A and 401-B?

Item #401-B is no longer applicable for the 2025-2026 sponsor evaluation. HB 96 changed what is required to be included in the policy and included the deadline of August 1, 2026 for schools to have a board-approved policy. As this date is after the submission deadline for the 2025-2026 sponsor evaluation, Item 401-B is not applicable for this evaluation cycle.

If completing the worksheet for a site-based school OR an internet/computer-based DOPR school, sponsors should not answer 401-A or 401-B. These schools will be scored as "not applicable" for the 1 point that is calculated from these two items.

If completing the worksheet for an internet/computer-based school that is NOT a DOPR school, sponsors should answer only 401-A, as this is still applicable to that type of school.

12. #410 – Are the absence notification requirements in this item still applicable?

No. H.B. 96 of the 136th assembly repealed the requirements referred to in this item. Sponsors should not answer this question on the 2025-2026 compliance worksheet. DEW staff will be sure to omit this item from the compliance component’s review, and it will not be included in the denominator for the compliance component’s score calculation.

13. #504 – Does the three-year forecast suffice as documentation for this item?

No. The relevant statute (ORC 3314.03) specifies per pupil expenditures must be included in the financial plan submitted by the school for each year of the contract. The three-year forecast template does not have per pupil expenditures and may not align with contract terms. Sponsors should refer to ORC 3314.03 for additional guidance.

14. #519 & #521- Are community schools still required to complete 5-year forecasts?

While community schools are no longer required to submit 5-year forecasts, they are required to submit budget information for the current school year and a 3-year forecast. The first 3-year forecast must be submitted by October 15^th, 2025 and the second 3-year forecast must be submitted by February 28^th, 2026.

15. #526 – If the school has a credit card that has no does not have a rewards program, what is the school required to submit as evidence?

If the school’s credit card does not have a rewards program, the school may submit evidence that this information was shared with the school’s governing authority, which could include a copy of board meeting minutes, or a copy of written confirmation from the credit card company that the credit card has no rewards program or other similar documentation and evidence that the documentation was made available to the governing authority.

16. #661 – What would suffice as evidence to show that the sponsor and its school do not have the same attorney and/or law firm working for them during contract negotiations?

Evidence could be a copy of the work agreement/contract that the attorney has with the school, especially if the contract includes a provision that specifies the “working independently of sponsor and/or operator” point. It could also be documents related to contract negotiations that include information on both the school’s attorney and the sponsor’s attorney, as well as meeting notes that show that attorneys from both sides participated.

17. #662 – Question 1 of this item asks, “Does the school's contract with the sponsor describe the governance, management, administration, instructional program, educational philosophy, and financial controls of the school?” Are you looking for descriptions for all of these areas in the sponsor’s response to this question?

No. When responding to Question 1 on Item 662, sponsors should consider whether the sponsor-school contract, per ORC 3314.03(A)(2) and ORC 3314.03(A)(34-36), includes: 1) the education program of the school, including the school’s mission and educational philosophy, 2) a provision establishing the process by which the governing authority of the school will be selected in the future, 3) a description of the management and administration of the school, and 4) a provision requiring the governing authority to adopt policies and procedures to establish internal financial controls for the school.

18. #671 – If a school does not have an employee application, is the school required to develop one and then put the required statement included in ORC 3319.393(A) on it?

Not having a formal application does not waive this requirement for a school. The issue is whether the required statement of ORC 3319.393(A) is somehow provided to potential employees prior to their submission of information to the school.  So no, schools don’t have to develop an employment application if that is not part of their application process, but they should be ensuring that when they are considering someone for employment, they are providing this statement to that person before that person provides any info (e.g., resume, etc.) to the school.

19. #672 and #673– How are these two items different from one another?

Item 672 is limited to new employees while Item 673 is not.

20. #673 – How do I know if an employee had their license permanently revoked or permanently denied by the State Board of Education?

You can consult the "educator profile" database.

21. #703 – Not all students are enrolled by Aug. 1; therefore, a letter cannot be sent to parents prior to that date. Is documentation of the required information being sent sufficient or is it strictly Aug. 1?

In accordance with ORC 3313.673(B), the school must provide parents with required information regarding screenings prior to Aug. 1. For students enrolled prior to Aug. 1, the sponsor should upload documentation to reflect that it provided the requisite notice by the Aug. 1 deadline. Sponsors should refer to ORC 3313.673 for additional guidance.

22. #973 – What evidence can sponsors provide for this item? What is the data sharing agreement?

There is a form schools complete to be in compliance with ORC 3313.6026. Sponsors can see which community schools have signed the data sharing agreement by going to the FAFSA dashboard (https://www.ohio-k12.help/fafsa/) and looking at whether the community school is labeled “Participating.” Evidence for this item could be a copy of the data sharing agreement signed by the school or a screenshot of the FAFSA dashboard showing that the school is listed as “Participating.”

Quality Practices Component Questions

1. Can schools selected as the subset of schools in prior years be selected again in 2025-2026? For example, if a school was reviewed during the 2022-2023, 2023-2024 or 2024-2025 evaluation, can it be selected for review during the 2025-2026 cycle?
Yes, this could occur. Schools are randomly selected from the sponsor’s entire portfolio each evaluation cycle.

2. What is the difference between the narrative option for standards on the quality rubric and the narrative field box in Epicenter? When should I use each and for what purposes?
Sponsors are not required to provide narratives. Sponsors opting to provide a narrative explanation for one or more of the standards included on the quality rubric should upload the narrative into Epicenter using the narrative template provided by the Department. Two of the standards, C.01 and C.02, do not allow document uploads, so sponsors opting to provide a narrative explanation should enter the narrative in the field provided on each of those standards in Epicenter.

3. What is the purpose of the memo template for document submission?
The memo template should be used when a sponsor has a document that is more than 25 pages long. For each quality standard, all documents that exceed 25 pages in length should include a memo that references the specific page numbers to be reviewed.

4. A.05 (Staff Expertise). What information should be included on a sponsor’s organizational chart?
In addition to serving as a visual depiction of how the sponsor’s organization is structured, the organizational chart should include the names of the offices, departments, sections or units that make up the sponsoring organization, as well as the specific names and positions of staff members with sponsoring responsibilities. In short, one should be able to look at the organizational chart and see which areas specifically deal with sponsoring and the staff members assigned to positions in those areas. Job descriptions of each sponsoring position should also be included.

5. A.05 (Staff Expertise) – What constitutes an equivalent of a licensed school treasurer?
School treasurer equivalents include CPAs, CFOs and comptrollers

6. A.07 (Allocation of Resources). What needs to be included in the budget narrative?
A budget narrative must provide context that explains the sources of revenue and expenditures and how they relate to the sponsor’s operation. It should explain how the costs are estimated and justify the need for the costs as they relate to sponsoring responsibilities.

7. B.01 (Application Process, Timeline and Directions). Which application for new community schools, replicators and schools seeking a change of sponsor should a sponsor submit?
The sponsor evaluation is for the 2025-2026 school year, so sponsors should submit the application that is applicable during this period.

8. C.01 (Contract Performance Measures). What does “all applicable state report card measures” mean?
For traditional community schools, all applicable state report card measures include all the measures and components on the Ohio School Report Cards. Some measures, however, may not apply to a specific school. For example, a school that serves only grades K – 6 would not have a graduation measure. For schools that receive Dropout Prevention and Recovery report cards, this includes measures and components on their report card. Details on the report cards are available here.

9. D.03 (On-Site Visits). Are sponsors supposed to review the school’s compliance with all applicable laws, rules, contractual obligations and academic performance measures at every site visit?
For the purposes of the current sponsor evaluation, sponsors must submit evidence of conducting at least two on-site reviews, with one review during the first half of the school year and the second review during the second half of the school year. These two on-site reviews are not the monthly enrollment and financial reviews. Sponsors must show evidence that, over the course of the two site visits combined, they reviewed the selected schools’ compliance with all applicable laws and rules, all contractual obligations and all academic performance measures. Should an ordered school building closure occur, sponsors should refer to the second note on the quality rubric for adjustments to this standard.

10. D.04 (Site Visit Reports). If sponsors use a checklist site visit instrument during school visits, can the sponsor simply give the school a copy of the completed checklist to serve as the site visit report?
The Quality Practices Rubric does not specify what type of document constitutes a site visit report. However, quality sponsoring practices suggest that a site visit report provides the school with more qualitative information. This includes comments about what the reviewer saw during the site visit and what steps are needed to improve or correct any deficiencies the reviewer discovered during the site visit. The site visit report also should include any areas of strength observed at the school. While sponsors may use any site visit protocols or checklists as their reports, sponsors may need to provide more information to adequately summarize the site visit and explain the reviewer’s findings. Should an ordered school building closure occur, sponsors should refer to the second note on the quality rubric for adjustments to this standard.

11. D.06 (Intervention). What evidence can sponsors provide to show they communicated with their schools the conditions that may trigger intervention and corrective action?
There are several examples of evidence that sponsors can provide to show they communicated with their schools the conditions that may trigger intervention. Evidence may include clear and detailed written communication, meeting notes, meeting agendas and newsletters. If sponsors require their schools to confirm or sign off that they received this information, then a copy of the sign-off sheet could suffice as well. Additionally, if applicable, the documentation should identify the condition(s) that triggered the intervention and the actions taken by the sponsor following established policy.

Last Modified: 2/5/2026 9:56:30 AM