California could lose millions in federal money meant for K-12 schools, state audit finds
California might have to forfeit tens of millions of dollars in pandemic relief money meant for schools if the department in charge of distributing funds does not strengthen its oversight of spending, a state auditor says.
The audit, released Tuesday, found that California might have to return up to $160 million in federal aid if the state’s Department of Education, referred to as “Education” by the auditor, continues to disburse and monitor federal funds used by K-12 schools the way it is doing it now.
About one in five local school districts that received coronavirus relief money through two federal funds had spent 20% or less of their initial money by the end of June, the auditor found.
As of June, around $507 million of the more than $1.6 billion in question had not been spent, the audit read.
“Education has not ensured that (school districts) consistently submit required quarterly reports that include the amounts they have spent on various allowable categories. Without these reports, Education lacks the data it needs to administer the funds and to adequately oversee how (school districts) are using the funds to mitigate the effects of the pandemic,” Elaine Howle, California’s state auditor, wrote in a letter attached to the findings.
More than 1,700 California local education agencies, such as school districts, received some pandemic relief and must report how they’re spending the money.
The federal money comes from two funds — the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund and the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund — cushioned to offset K-12 school costs incurred during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic through a series of larger relief packages passed by Congress.
The money can be used for items to bolster aspects of learning that were impacted by the pandemic, such as through mental health support systems, summer programs or updated technology. Some of the funding is designated for administrative issues.
The federal government released the money in three rounds, the first of which was passed through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act of March 2020.
That $1.6 billion in initial funds must be spent before January 2023, with the two sets of subsequent funds used before January 2024 and 2025, respectively. Leftover money will be returned to the federal government after each deadline.
In all, federal lawmakers set aside about $24 billion to California through these funds.
Some school districts told auditors that they were using money from other sources with earlier deadlines and that delays in returning to in-person learning also prevented the use of these funds, the auditor wrote in the report released Tuesday.
The state auditor said that California’s education department needed more supervision over how school districts report spending and that the department is not monitoring enough of the recipients.
In response to the audit, California’s education department agreed that it should put more effort into oversight, but contended that some of the auditor’s recommendations would be a waste of resources.
Later rounds of funding are already being disbursed. California should expect to get about $15.9 billion from March’s American Rescue Plan. About $10 billion has been given to California so far, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan Washington budget watchdog.
California Department of Education officials said earlier this year that spending plans can evolve slowly as schools usually need approval from school boards to move forward. Bigger projects require more time.
The Sacramento Bee asked local school districts earlier this year how they spent some of the money.
Sacramento City Unified got and spent $35.3 million, notably for food assistance, telework and administrative expenses.
Natomas Unified planned to spend its $9.9 million on services such as technology, WiFi service cost, virtual tutoring and COVID-19 testing and vaccinations.
San Juan Unified was given $21.14 million, and spent the funding generally on technology such as Google Chromebooks.
Elk Grove Unified received and spent $35.2 million, and among its expenditures were improving telework and distance learning.
McClatchy DC’s David Lightman contributed reporting.
This story was originally published October 19, 2021 at 2:06 PM.
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