Gibbons asks why education funds not spent

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2005 | 8:55 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., on Monday asked state school officials to account for $332,000 in federal education grant money that he said Nevada returned to Washington unspent.

"No other priority is higher than the education of our children, and it is important that in a time of tight budgetary restraints that every taxpayer dollar is spent effectively and efficiently," Gibbons wrote in a letter to Gov. Kenny Guinn and state Superintendent of Schools Keith Rheault.

It's not known yet exactly why the money in question was not spent, said Doug Thunder, state deputy superintendent for administrative and fiscal services.

But there are some fairly simple reasons that explain why a tiny fraction of federal grant money goes unspent in some years, he said.

The $332,000 was part of a $71 million pot of federal grant money sent to Nevada in 1998, Thunder said. That means less than one-half of 1 percent was unspent.

Rules typically require that the money be spent within a specific time frame, in this case 27 months.

But it sometimes happens that school districts, which apply for sub-grants of the money from the state, end up not spending the money in time, Thunder said.

For example, a district may reach the end of a grant cycle and have a small amount leftover that has to be returned to the state, Thunder said. Sometimes a teacher responsible for spending the money retires before it is spent, he said. Or on occasion a district audit reveals that the money was spent inappropriately and must return it to the state, he said. The state in those cases tries to then give the money to another district, but in some cases it is too late.

Overall, Nevada has a good record of spending the money it receives from the federal government, Thunder said.

"If you compare Nevada with other states we come out looking very good," Thunder said.