County Schools Told to Repay State Funds

The state Department of Finance is asking the county superintendent of schools office to correct earlier erroneous attendance reports for McBride School, a campus for incarcerated youths.

At issue is about $750,000 in state money the county office could potentially have to repay.

The state allotted the amount based on the attendance of students at McBride School in Ventura between 1992 and 1995. But while county officials say the payments were warranted, state finance officials maintain the district claimed money to which it was not entitled.

In a recent letter to county schools Supt. Charles Weis, state officials maintained that the county had “received state funds on the basis of reported [attendance] that does not comply with the law.”

In the June 7 letter, Kathryn Radtkey-Gaither, a budget manager for the Finance Department, said the county schools office should file a report correcting past errors in claimed attendance.

Based on an independent audit in 1995, the county office--charged with overseeing local court and community schools--found that it had inappropriately claimed money for McBride, state officials said.

First, it was unclear whether the students at McBride were in the presence of certified teachers, as required by the state, finance officials said. Second, the county used the corrections department, rather than teachers, to keep track of whether students attended classes, Radtkey-Gaither said in an interview.

“The entire [attendance] system is based on teacher attendance rules,” Radtkey-Gaither said. “To have what essentially amounts to the correctional agency counting the population as a proxy for school attendance is not something that would ever be acceptable.”

Weis maintains that the McBride students were under the care of teacher aides, who under education law can temporarily replace teachers.

As for the problem of correction’s officers keeping track of student attendance, that was taken care of once it came to their attention in the 1995 audit, Weis said.

He said he is trying to get state education officials to waive the $750,000 repayment.

Weis also maintains that the Finance Department has no authority to ask for the $750,000. The request has to be made by the Education Department, he said.