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MISALLOCATED SCHOOL FUNDS
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over-allocated, and about 400 charter and district schools were
a ected.
Now, according to a response from OSEP sent to the state on
July 3, the state Department of Education can use set aside funds
to make those schools whole.
Set aside funds are carried over from year to year. For example,
if a charter school closes in scal year 2015, the dollars that would
have gone to that school would have instead been set aside to make
up for unexpected costs, like misallocations.
e department is expected to fully resolve the issue by scal
year 2022.
Since October, the department’s position has been that it
intended to hold schools “harmless” for the error, meaning districts
and charters that received too much funding would not be asked to
return the over-allocated funds, and that schools that were shorted
would be made whole.
But according to the federal response, representatives from ADE
indicated the state did not have the money to repay the schools and
asked for the requirement to be waived.
ADE spokesman Stefan Swiat described that request as a “ploy”
to extend the timeframe in which the department would repay the
schools.
Swiat said ADE was initially given just two to three years to
make the shorted schools whole, so the department suggested
waiving that requirement knowing that wouldn’t be an option.
Instead, the feds adjusted the timeline, allowing ve years by
which the state had to repay schools.
at solution may minimize harm for schools impacted by the
It
IDEA error, but Swiat conceded it could also make the state more It’s all about...’s all about...
vulnerable to unforeseen challenges in the future. The Students
“It is a hardship because… this money didn’t come out of
thin air,” he said. “We had to strip ourselves of the money that Concord Builds Solutions That Enrich Our Communities
we normally put toward technical assistance, monitoring and
professional development. at money would be for us at the state
to use, and we’re just passing that along.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas told
the Arizona Capitol Times she doesn’t like to play the “what-if
game” and speculate about what the department may lose out on
in the years to come.
“We just have to x this,” she said.
e U.S. Department of Education has also dra ed a proposal
for how to correct a similar error that led to tens of millions in
misallocated Title I dollars.
at money is distributed to schools serving the state’s most
economically disadvantaged children.
Beginning in scal year 2014 under former Superintendent of
Public Instruction John Huppenthal and carrying over into scal
years 2015, 2016 and 2017, more than 400 district and charter
schools received inaccurate Title I allocations.
And while ADE is working with the federal government toward
a solution that would not cause further harm, some uncertainty
remains.
Mesa | Tucson | Statewide
480.962.8080 • www.concordinc.com
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36 2018 AASBO Directory Ad.indd 1 THE EDGE | BACK TO SCHOOL 2018
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