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ARIZONA CAPITOL TIMES
CONTRIBUTING ARTICLE

BY KATIE CAMPBELL
Another school funding error found;

state blames ‘antiquated formula’
Campbell

e Arizona Department of Education has revealed a second error Swiat said the feds have heard the plan only in verbal communications
in federal funding allocations, resulting in millions of misallocated with the department and encouraged state representatives to submit it
dollars intended for special education programs. for o cial review.
According to a letter sent to school districts and charter schools on Chuck Essigs, director of government relations for the Arizona
October 31, the department under-allocated $15.2 million in funding Association of School Business O cials, said there have been occasions
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. where the federal government has decided not to penalize schools for
Department spokesman Stefan Swiat said a 2015 audit by the federal something that wasn’t their fault.
O ce of Special Education Programs also found that $14.3 million was “Now, I don’t know how likely they are of doing that,” he added. “But
over-allocated, a ecting about 400 charters and districts. I would support any e orts that the Department of Education would
e letter, signed by Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane make to try to get the federal government to understand that this was
Douglas, went on to blame the mistake on “an incorrect funding not something that the schools did wrong. ey did everything that
formula that became less accurate.” they thought was right.”
Swiat said the error compounded over time because the department’s In the meantime, as was the case with Title I funding, a ected schools
“antiquated formula” did not account for new and expanding charter have not yet been told how much they were over- or underfunded.
schools, causing misallocations. “Leadership wants to manage the situation, understand the scope
ough the error was initially identi ed in 2015, Swiat said the full of the problem, detail the outlined plan that they’re submitting to U.S.
scope of the problem was not clear until last week. Ed to let (districts and charter schools) know this is what we want to
e revelation also follows reports that hundreds of charter and have happen,” Swiat said. “If it doesn’t happen, it’s because the U.S.
district schools have been receiving more federal funding for low- Department of Ed decided to go in a di erent direction.”
income students than they were entitled to while others received far less. For now, district and charter representatives will have to do their
e misallocation of Title I dollars dates back at least to scal year 2014. best to budget for an uncertain future.
At the time of that report, the department’s plan to recover from the Ricardo Hernandez, Pima County’s deputy school superintendent
error was still unclear, but Douglas’ letter addressed ongoing questions and chief nancial o cer, said districts saw drastic reductions in IDEA
about how both Title I and IDEA allocations may be impacted in the funding for scal year 2018, leaving him to wonder whether errors in
years to come. the allocation process have yet been resolved.
In negotiating with the U.S. Department of Education, the state will He said the Pima Accommodation District went from receiving
propose to hold schools “harmless,” according to the letter, meaning more than $200,000 in IDEA funding last year to less than $29,000
districts and charters that received too much funding will not be asked this year. at’s especially problematic for the small district that serves
to return the over-allocated funds, nor will their future allocations be students in the juvenile detention system, about one-third of whom are
reduced to make up for the lost dollars. identi ed as having special needs.
Additionally, the department will propose making the underfunded Other, more traditional districts may not have been hit as hard,
districts and charters whole over the next three to ve years by allotting he added. But even losing $35,000, as was the case for Flowing Wells
the funds they had been shorted. Uni ed School District, may have serious consequences.
According to the letter, the department will accomplish that by He said those dollars are used to provide services to “some of the
“completely emptying our co ers from set aside funds.” neediest kids.”
e state has carry-over from year to year. For example, Swiat said if Now, districts and charters will have to prioritize their needs,
50 charter schools closed in scal years 2015 and 2016, the dollars that Hernandez said – and that could open districts up to legal trouble if
would have gone to those schools would have instead been set aside parents nd gaps in federally mandated services that must be provided
to make up for misallocations or “tremendous,” unexpected growth in even if the funds aren’t there to support them.
charter operations that quali ed for federal assistance. “To us, it’s a blindside,” Hernandez said. “Districts are having to
Swiat said the department hopes to repay shorted Title I and IDEA gure out what to do and crossing their ngers that their allocations
dollars out of that fund. will be approved.”
But the department’s plan must still be submitted to the feds for Hernandez said he is also concerned with Title II funding, the main
approval, and there’s no guarantee they’ll sign o . source of funding for professional development and teacher recruitment
“If I had a crystal ball, I’d be able to tell you,” Swiat said. “I can’t programs. He said Title II funding also saw severe reductions across the
speculate other than to say our conversations with U.S. Ed has been state, like in the Nogales Uni ed School District where 40 percent of
nothing but positive.” Title II funding was lost in this year’s allocations.

38 THE EDGE WINTER 2018

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