By Staff Reporter |

Arizona has approximately $29 million in unused federal funds for schools, which Arizona Department of Education (ADE) Superintendent Tom Horne seeks to recover.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) notified Horne of the unused millions last week. The $29 million in Title I funds were underutilized during the administration of Horne’s predecessor, Kathy Hoffman. This was reportedly the first notification of its kind submitted by ED to the state under Horne’s administration. 

In a press release on Monday, Horne blamed the underutilization on incompetence.

“The under-utilization of about $29 million in federal funds began in Federal Fiscal Year 2020, but continued under the previous superintendent and the employee who incompetently handed these allocations no longer works at this department,” said Horne.

Horne rejected allegations by Governor Katie Hobbs that he was at fault for the mismanagement of these millions, which fell under his predecessor’s control. 

“These dollars should have been sent to districts and charters years ago during the Hoffman administration, but they were allowed by previous staff to accumulate and potentially revert,” said Horne. “In reality she is asking to investigate Kathy Hoffman’s administration, but the problem is being corrected by my administration.”

Horne had clarified in a press release last week, responding to reporting by The Arizona Republic, that it was specifically one employee within Hoffman’s administration that was to blame. Horne claimed that the individual gave incorrect allocation totals to schools. Horne didn’t name that employee. 

“The mishandling and failure to notify districts of correct allocations with time for them to properly plan and spend the money resulted from an error by an employee of my predecessor before I took office,” said Horne. “This person told the schools they had smaller allocations than they had. We were constantly on the phone urging districts to spend as much of the money properly as they could.”

The superintendent noted that the Arizona Republic was aware that oversight of the funds fell under Hoffman, but that they had “dishonestly withheld” that information from their reporting. Horne also demanded a retraction of their “false” reporting.

“The story is false, and the reporter responsible for writing it dishonestly and, apparently with intent, withheld information given to him in advance of the story that clearly shows the story is false,” said Horne. “This is unacceptable and cannot stand.”

KJZZ identified the former staffer as a current employee of the Pima County School Superintendent’s Office. 

One member of that office, Peter Laing, their CFO, served as Hoffman’s policy advisor and oversaw the various federal funding programs during the pandemic. 

Hoffman, in turn, told the Arizona Republic that Horne was to blame for not recognizing the missteps of her administration upon taking over.

“It was their choice to bring in their own leadership, so those people needed to figure out all the grant funding. It’s as simple as that,” said Hoffman.

On Monday, in response to the contested Arizona Republic reporting, Hobbs and six Democratic state representatives demanded the convening of a Joint Legislative Audit Committee to audit Horne and ADE over the Title I funds. 

In a press release, Hobbs said Horne was to blame for the disappearance of the majority of those millions, around $24 million, which the governor deemed as lost.

“It is unconscionable that Superintendent Horne has let tens of millions of dollars disappear from our schools—critical federal funding that helps students succeed,” said Hobbs. “Our kids deserve better.”

An accompanying letter from the six Democratic lawmakers — Nancy Gutierrez, Lupe Contreras, Oscar De Los Santos, Melody Hernandez, Jennifer Pawlik, and Judy Schwiebert — argued against ADE’s refusal, per department policy, to release its data and formulas determining reduced Title I allocations.

The lawmakers alleged that it was current ADE practices that withheld federal funding from schools.

“School finance officers across the state have tried and failed to recreate the reductions generated by the Department, leading to confusion and doubt regarding the accuracy of those calculations,” stated the lawmakers. 

In order to recoup the $29 million, ADE must apply for a Tydings waiver allowing excess funds accrued due to underallocations beginning with the 2020 fiscal year. Approval of the waiver will increase funding to districts and charters, per ADE.

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