Former School Data Czar Receives Jail Time

Former Columbus City Schools data czar Stephen B. Tankovich has received jail time for his role in the data scrubbing scandal. Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Pat Sheeran sentenced Tankovich to 15 days in jail, as well as two years’ probation. Tankovich, in July, pleaded no contest to attempted tampering with records, a fourth-degree felony. He could have received 18 months in prison and up to $5,000 in fines. Tankovich attorney Mark Collins said his client has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. “If someone wants to exercise their constitutional right to a trial, and Steve is called to testify, he will testify truthfully and he’ll be very credible," Collins said. Tankovich has denied directing anyone to change student data. But Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien has said Tankovich indicated his involvement when he forwarded to a district data analyst emails sent from schools requesting student attendance disenrollment. Collins said forwarding the emails violated district data policy. And Collins said Tankovich never told principals to change attendance data, rather his job was to rectify data inconsistencies between the school district and state systems. “It became an issue when in 2005-06 school year the school district then changed to an incentive-based system for the principals," he said. "And that’s when the principals got involved, and then started changing the data and benefitting individually from that.” Tankovich is set to report to jail tomorrow.