Ohio State accidentally overpaid schools $30 million due to a funding formula error. The state’s largest education union is weighing the pros and cons of what some might call a “happy accident.”
Ohio finally has a constitutional funding formula for the state’s public education system almost 30 yearsbut many schools still have problems.
“There is still a lot of work to be done on this issue,” said Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association.
When it comes to schools, every dollar counts, he added.
But an error in the funding formula has led to what could be considered good news for hundreds of schools.
The state has overpaid K-12 school districts, charters and school voucher programs by about $30 million this year.
“These could be staff salaries to address class size issues; these may include additional resource officers; these may include additional counselors or nurses; it could be a maintenance aid,” DiMauro added.
Financial records show districts such as Cleveland schools received about $700,000, Akron $400,000, Parma $175,000 and Canton $145,000. Everyone was contacted but no one was available to speak to.
Here are the 10 best public schools:
| Columbus City School District | Franklin | $883,119.71 |
| Municipal Cleveland | Cuyahoga | $695,676.50 |
| Cincinnati Public Schools | Hamilton | $691,698.52 |
| Southwestern city | Franklin | $457,222.20 |
| Local Olentangy | Delaware | $425,474.01 |
| City of Toledo | Lucas | $411,892.89 |
| City of Akron | Peak | $401,492.97 |
| Lakota Local | Butler | $315,593.73 |
| City of Dublin | Franklin | $315,033.79 |
| City of Hilliard | Franklin | $295,391.54 |
In total, the Department of Education and Labor overpaid public schools by $21 million, charters by $2 million, career centers by $1.2 million and district development boards by $135,000. The remaining amount, between $4 million and $6 million, went to the EdChoice voucher program.
Fortunately for schools, there is no money for this perceptible strings attached.
“We have no intention of getting all this money back,” said Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima.
Huffman admitted that the accident was due to faulty data.
“An error was made in the calculation of the school funding formula,” he added.
DEW was asked to explain how this happened. Spokeswoman Lacey Snoke said the calculation system is based on the average amount of money a student needs in each district. However, some schools did not report certain expenses, which led to an overestimation of the amount per student.
“Fourteen school districts did not report athletic-related expenses, so approximately 11,000 students who attended these schools were excluded from the per-pupil calculation,” she wrote.
Including these students would reduce the per-student amount used to calculate the formula by $1.40. This was the case for the three per-pupil amounts used in the basic cost calculation.
Not every school benefited from the miscalculations. Eighty of the 610 public schools were indebted to the state.
Here are the top ten public schools that owe state money:
| City of Beavercreek | Greene | -$1,798.42 |
| East Cleveland City School District | Cuyahoga | -$1,119.80 |
| City of Centerville | Montgomery | -$1067.46 |
| City of Strongville | Cuyahoga | -$1064.78 |
| A place by the river | Lake | -$800.57 |
| City of Lakewood | Cuyahoga | -$772.06 |
| Local enormous walnut | Delaware | -$747.00 |
| Bellbrook-Sugarcreek Local | Greene | -$742.20 |
| City of Brecksville-Broadview Heights | Cuyahoga | -$709.39 |
| Buckeye Local | Medina | -$667.20 |
“I like to solve problems as quickly as possible. “What we would simply do is, let’s say starting in the next biennium, the base formula is based not on what we paid, but on what we intended to pay,” Huffman explained.
DiMauro worries that Huffman’s solution, whether it’s just a quick tech fix or something bigger, could actually hurt the funding formula. It’s here imperceptible there may be strings.
It took educators many years to implement the constitutional funding formula — with opposition from Republican lawmakers like Huffman. Now that it has finally happened, he fears it will be a way to change the system.
“I wouldn’t want the districts to do any damage,” DiMauro said.
This change should take place before the end of June.
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This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
