Officials at the Oklahoma State Department of Education now acknowledge some delays in the reimbursement of federal funds to school districts across the state but said local administrators can be assured that they are getting caught up.
Officials in the Tulsa, Bartlesville, Mustang and Oklahoma City districts told the Tulsa World last week that payments of their claims are months behind and, in the case of Title I funds for Tulsa's service of economically disadvantaged students, nonexistent.
At the time, state officials claimed that Tulsa Public Schools had received $3.9 million in reimbursements for its claims through December.
On Tuesday, Education Department spokesman Damon Gardenhire acknowledged that the amount had been authorized for payment but not actually paid.
Two officials in the state's federal programs office had said those Tulsa claims had been paid, he said. "What that means is they have authorized it for payment. But has the check actually been cut? No. There were some of those claims that had not been paid."
Tulsa Public Schools has been allocated a total of $65 million in all federal funding for fiscal year 2012, which ends in June. Currently, the district has nearly $11.5 million in pending claims, including $6.7 million for Title I programs.
"They said that we had received $3.9 million," said Trish Williams, the district's chief financial officer. "The dollars are not here. They didn't say we have written a check or one is on its way. It was clearly - whether intentional or not - it was a misstatement."
She added that she remains concerned that reimbursements aren't being paid with the same expediency that they were in previous years.
"If these applications aren't approved until after the first of the new year, school districts are basically making interest-free loans to the federal government until their applications are approved and their claims are paid," she said.
"We are paying the expenses for Title I. We have paid out $6.7 million while awaiting payment. That's not just Tulsa - that's happening in schools all over the state."
Jeff Mills, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association, has said his organization has received so many calls on the topic that it is surveying all of its members to assess the extent of the problem because there are statutory requirements for schools to balance their books by the end of June.
On Tuesday, state officials said they have paid out $39.4 million to schools for federal Title I programs.
That is just 24.1 percent of the $163.3 million allocated to Oklahoma schools for the fiscal year that ends June 30, but state officials said schools need not worry.
"We believe we are on target to get everybody's reimbursement to them in a timely manner. The ones we have on hold, we are waiting for additional information from districts. We don't believe that we are in a moment of crisis where districts aren't receiving their funds," Gardenhire said.
He attributed the delays in payments to some schools to the fact that the federal government adjusted its budget three times because of political wrangling.
"That created some delays for every state," he said. "Districts need not worry about receiving funds on time as long as they provide all of the required documentation."
While Oklahoma education officials currently scrutinize every claim received from schools, other states employ random reviews.
"We are looking at adjustments to streamline the process in the coming year. Right now it's a very arduous process for both the districts and our staff," Gardenhire said. "We want to make sure if we do random reviews to speed up the process, we make sure that it's working well in those other states first."
A look at some of Tulsa Public Schools' unpaid federal program claims for FY 2012
Date submitted
by TPS |
Amount claimed |
Status according
to state |
Payment received
by TPS |
| Nov. 9 |
$100,304.39 |
Authorized payment May 2 |
$0 |
| Nov. 9 |
$147,505.05 |
Authorized payment May 2 |
$0 |
| Nov. 15 |
$628,171.04 |
Authorized payment May 2 |
$0 |
| Jan. 25 |
$884,697.16 |
Authorized payment May 2 |
$0 |
| Jan. 28 |
$1,004,245.28 |
Authorized payment May 2 |
$0 |
| Feb. 2 |
$1,158,517.64 |
Authorized payment May 4 |
$0 |
| April 3 |
$839,803.76 |
On hold; more documentation needed |
$0 |
| April 20 |
$1,980,980.96 |
Pending review |
$0 |
| April 3 |
$142,250.12 |
Pending review |
$0 |
| March 27 |
$187,303.01 |
Pending review |
$0 |
| April 12 |
$88,668.22 |
Pending review |
$0 |
| May 3 |
$11,246.49 |
Pending review |
$0 |
Andrea Eger 918-581-8470
andrea.eger@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: State admits school funds delay
