COLUMBUS—As the end of the summer approaches and Ohioans are gearing up for back-to-school, the state’s prisons are emphasizing the importance of providing educational opportunities to the incarcerated population.

The Ohio Central School System (OCSS) serves as the school system for the state’s prisons.  It is one of the largest school systems in the state, serving thousands of incarcerated individuals each year. Recently a new emphasis has been placed on providing educational opportunities to individuals in high security prisons and maximizing the use of technology to offer coursework using Chromebooks.

“Providing an avenue for the men and women in our prisons to better themselves is one of the best things we can do to help them succeed,” said ODRC Director Annette Chambers-Smith.  “Expanding our delivery and the number of people who have access to education while in prison is a rehabilitative necessity.”

OCSS has long served the Ohio prison system offering basic education, high school diplomas, apprenticeships and skilled trades, and post-secondary education, partnering with six Ohio-based colleges and universities.  Last year, ODRC expanded college to include all high security prisons, making Ohio one of only a few states in the country to have college available at all facilities.

“We believe in the rehabilitative power of education, and the people who need that the most are often in our high security prisons,” said Director Chambers-Smith.

Building on this foundation, Director Chambers-Smith and OCSS Superintendent Jennifer Sanders spearheaded an effort to deploy 10,000 Chromebooks to prisons across the state. The Chromebooks, purchased with federal CARES Act money, allowed for remote learning during the pandemic and create personalized and modern educational opportunities.  In addition, a secure wireless network was built to provide access to education beyond the walls of the schools.  The network is the foundation for the Chromebook access and was expanded to housing units, providing digital opportunities to other program areas such as mental health and recovery services.

The Ohio Central School System served thousands of incarcerated adults last fiscal year (FY 2022):

  • 816 students earned high school equivalency certifications.
  • 1,175 students earned career technical education certifications.
  • 546 students earned apprenticeship certifications.
  • 3,209 students earned advanced job training (college) certifications or degrees.