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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES

May 1, 2017

Honorable Paolo DeMaria

Superintendent of Public Instruction

Ohio Department of Education

26 South Front Street

Columbus, Ohio

Dear Superintendent DeMaria:

The purpose of this letter and attachment is to provide a summary of the monitoring activities 

conducted by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to the Ohio Department of 

Education (ODE) during the week of September 19, 2016. In 2016, OSEP began providing 

differentiated monitoring and support (DMS) to States as part of its Results Driven 

Accountability System (RDA). Under RDA, OSEP made a shift from monitoring based solely 

on compliance to monitoring and support focused on both compliance and improving results for 

students with disabilities. OSEP differentiates its approach for each State based on the State’s 

unique strengths, progress, challenges, and needs. 

With the DMS process, OSEP conducts an organizational assessment (OA) of risk factors to 

identify States’ progress in meeting performance standards and compliance with the legal 

requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Education 

Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) and the Uniform Administrative 

Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. OSEP uses the 

information from the OA and an Engagement Decision Tree to make designations of universal, 

targeted, or intensive monitoring and support for the fiscal year. The 2016 DMS areas were: 

1) results; 2) compliance; 3) dispute resolution (Special Focus Area); and 4) fiscal. 

On April 26, 2016, OSEP sent Dr. Sue Zake, Director, Office for Exceptional Children, the DMS 

notice for Ohio. That notice provided a designation of universal, targeted, or intensive in four 

areas: results, compliance, dispute resolution, and fiscal. The information in the notice was 

based on FFY 2013 data in the four areas, along with information about the factors contributing 

to elevated needs, the support your State has accessed, your State’s capacity to improve results 

and compliance, and additional contextual information. We have enclosed a copy of the DMS 

notice for your convenience.

Based on information in your State’s DMS notice, OSEP conducted a fiscal DMS visit in Ohio. 

Enclosed is the Fiscal Monitoring Inventory that was developed based on the information 

provided and interviews conducted by OSEP during the DMS visit. As OSEP identified findings 

of noncompliance with IDEA and EDGAR requirements, you will find specific instructions, 

within the attachments, regarding corrective actions and timelines the State must take to address 

the noncompliance. If you have any questions regarding the DMS visit or the required corrective 
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actions, please contact Daniel Schreier, Ohio’s Fiscal Accountability Facilitator at 

Daniel.schreier@ed.gov or (202) 245-6552.

Finally, OSEP would like to thank Dr. Zake and her staff for their cooperation and collaboration 

with OSEP before, during and after the DMS visit. OSEP appreciates Ohio’s efforts to improve 

results for children with disabilities. 

Sincerely,

/s/

Ruth E. Ryder

Acting Director

Office of Special Education Programs 

cc: Dr. Sue Zake, Director, Office for Exceptional Children

Enclosures