Columbus – Auditor of State Dave Yost issues the following statement regarding the state Board of Education’s support of his recommendation that the General Assembly change state law to give the Ohio Department of Education access to student names.

“It’s gratifying that the board saw the value of bringing this data in-house,” Auditor Yost said. “This change will save money and give ODE better results.”

Auditor Yost testified before the board yesterday during the presentation of an interim performance audit report that recommended moving Ohio’s outsourced Statewide Student Identifier system (SSID) to ODE, potentially saving the state more than $430,000 annually. Ohio law currently precludes ODE from accessing student personal information. Yost also said ODE’s lack of access to the data contributed to a delay in the separate statewide audit of school district attendance reporting practices.

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,600 state and local government agencies.  Under the direction of Auditor Dave Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies and promotes transparency in government.

Contact:
Carrie Bartunek
Press Secretary
614-644-1111