Education officials pass on Ensign’s offer

Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

State education officials said Wednesday they appreciated an offer from Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., to assist them with keeping better tabs on federal funding but that his help isn't needed.

In a letter sent Monday to state Superintendent Jack McLaughlin, Ensign expressed concern over a recent report from the U.S. Education Department that showed Nevada apparently has $26 million in unused federal education funds for fiscal years 2000-2002. That includes $21 million provided as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, which took effect two years ago and calls for sweeping reforms to the nation's public schools.

Additionally, Nevada returned nearly $800,000 in education funding in 1999 and $685,696 last year to federal coffers, Ensign said.

"The federal government has allocated tens of millions of dollars for the implementation of No Child Left Behind," Ensign said in his letter. "Obviously, those dollars are of no use to those they would benefit if the funds are not accessed and utilized."

Doug Thunder, deputy superintendent of administrative and fiscal services for the Nevada Education Department, said it's inaccurate to say the state has let $26 million languish. More correctly, Nevada has $26 million still to spend, Thunder said.

"The federal dollars are in the equivalent of a savings account, and in most cases we have 27 months to use the money," Thunder said. "We don't spend it all at once and we make sure to spend the oldest dollars first to keep the clock ticking."

He also disagreed with Ensign's figure of nearly $700,000 returned to the U.S. Treasury. Thunder said it was more accurate to say some money was never drawn from the state's account -- rather than "returned" -- and according to Nevada's figures the amount is closer to $300,000.

Figures for individual school districts -- including Clark County -- were not immediately available.

Thunder said, while Ensign's offer was appreciated, his department has its own accounting department responsible for ensuring federal dollars are being allocated appropriately.

Ensign said Wednesday he did not intend his letter to be contentious or accusatory.

"We're trying to help," Ensign said. "When $26 million is just sitting there, something's not jibing."

As for the discrepancy between the federal and state tallies, there shouldn't be a penny left unused, Ensign said.

Nevada gets about $150 million annually from the federal government for educational programs and services and an average of 0.4 percent of that winds up not being used, Thunder said.

The federal dollars are typically earmarked for specific types of programs and services, Thunder said. If for some reason the state -- or local school districts and community groups that apply for a share of the pot -- cannot meet the parameters, the money goes unused.

For example, if Nevada receives $500,000 to implement a special education reading program, but cannot find enough qualified teachers to carry out the initiative, the money must be returned, Thunder said. There have also been instances when a certain amount of federal aid was requested to build a facility or buy textbooks and the actual project bid came in for a lesser amount, Thunder said.

The difference was then not drawn from the federal funds, he said.

Walt Rulffes, deputy superintendent of operations for the Clark County School District, said he had received a copy of Ensign's letter.

"It's terribly unfortunate that some money has been routed back," Rulffes said. "Sometimes there are circumstances that make that unavoidable but with good planning that generally shouldn't happen."

What would help, Rulffes said, would be if the federal dollars came with some flexibility.

"We need some latitude to redesign our expenditures to meet the needs of the programs," Rulffes said. "Sometimes we can't meet strict guidelines of the grant and we wind up not being able to use it because of a technicality in the law."

According to the U.S. Education Department, Nevada's $26 million in unexpended education dollars includes: