KSDE official reports federal ESSER, title reimbursements restored but delayed; districts told to spend carefully

Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) staff on Aug. 13 told the State Board of Education that two streams of federal education funding that had been paused earlier this year — ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) reimbursements and several Title programs — are again available but that the state has not yet received all reimbursements. Dr. Frank Harwood, a KSDE presenter, said the department has submitted reimbursement requests but some are still under review at the U.S. Department of Education.

The update came after KSDE staff said districts were told on June 27 that paused 2024 funds were again accessible following an earlier pause. "The way the federal funds work is you have to spend them first and then you can ask for reimbursement," Harwood said, describing a timeline in which KSDE submitted an initial reimbursement for $1,100,000 and paid an additional $1,600,000 to vendors on July 10 before submitting that request for federal reimbursement on July 11. He said invoices remain under federal review and that other states are receiving funds while KSDE awaits final processing.

Harwood told the board that the earlier federal pause left the state and its vendors in a difficult position around the fiscal-year change and training schedules. "By taking out those three months, we have some concern whether some of the vendors can actually complete the tasks that were there," he said, adding that KSDE has asked vendors to begin submitting invoices monthly (rather than quarterly) to avoid a repeat of the prior cash-flow problem and to better track deliverables.

Harwood additionally summarized a separate June 30 pause that affected Title programs, saying roughly $42,900,000 for districts — including funds categorized as Title I, Title II-A, Title IV-A and Title IV-B (21st Century Community Learning Centers) — was temporarily unavailable on July 1, the first day of many districts' fiscal year. He said KSDE received word Aug. 2 and Aug. 7 that those Title funds would be released, but that districts must still spend the money and request federal reimbursement under normal monthly processes. "The districts spend the money, the state reimburses the districts, and then the federal government reimburses the state," Harwood explained, adding that the Title reimbursements are generally automated and turned around quickly once the state submits claims.

Board members pressed KSDE staff on contingency planning. A board member who asked whether districts are budgeting as if they might not receive federal funds was told KSDE had advised districts to "budget like you're going to get them and spend like you're not" — an approach Harwood said some districts used last spring when the pause occurred. Harwood also said the administration's federal budget proposal had at one point proposed block-granting or reducing some of the Title funds, but noted the Senate Appropriations Committee had maintained funding levels in its draft.

KSDE staff urged districts to focus spending only on contracts that had been approved by the U.S. Department of Education as of Sept. 30, 2024, and to use allowable transfers within existing contracts rather than creating new contracts with the paused federal dollars. Harwood said one consequence of the pause is that certain summer training opportunities were lost and the state is trying to reallocate allowable funds to training seats and other activities that can be completed within federal timelines.

Board members and staff acknowledged the pause had damaged trust in federal funding streams and emphasized the need for clearer federal communication. Harwood said KSDE is responding to occasional federal requests for additional information and that reimbursements are processed in the order received, which can add delay when requests require follow-up. He closed by saying the good news was that the funds were accessible again and vendors have been paid, but the state and districts remain in a reimbursement queue.