Tarrant County school districts are set to lose more than $17.2 million in special education funding as a result of a recent federal decision.
Fort Worth ISD will lose $4.2 million, while the Birdville, Keller and Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school districts will each see losses of at least $1 million and Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD will see a nearly $1 million cut, according to data from the Texas Health and Human Services Department.
The cuts come after a seven-year-long dispute between Texas and the federal government over services the state provides to special education students, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Districts receive money from the school Medicaid program when special education students receive medical services, such as physical therapy or tube feeding. Texas overcounted what it considered as medical services to students and received too much in federal funding.
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD was disappointed to learn about the reduction because the funding is for federally mandated services that support students with the greatest medical needs, said Heather Hughes, the district’s executive director for special programs.
“Because the needs of our students are not going away with the funding, we will continue to provide these services, but this will further impact our budget already strained by no additional funding coming to the general allotment from the state since 2019,” Hughes said.
The Texas Health & Human Services Commission told districts about the loss in December. Texas school districts will lose $300 million in Medicaid reimbursements.
Fort Worth ISD spokesperson Cesar Padilla said the district anticipated the potential loss as administrators assembled the 2023-24 school year budget.
The district is determining whether it wants to appeal its funding amounts.
Officials took proactive measures to reduce the impact on the budget, Padilla said. The district expects to receive $8.2 million in Medicaid reimbursements, but estimates show Fort Worth ISD receiving more than $9 million.
“However, any loss of revenues adds to the supplemental amount that the district has to contribute from its general revenues, as the district does not receive sufficient reimbursements from the state and federal government to support its special education programming,” Padilla said.
In 2023, the Texas Education Department determined Fort Worth ISD’s special education department needed intervention because of disproportionate suspension rates for Black students and the district not having enough qualified personnel to evaluate students.
Keller ISD was aware of the ruling and its impact on its budget, spokesperson Bryce Nieman said.
“The district has disagreed with the current settlement amount,” Nieman said, adding Keller ISD is working to conduct an informal review of its Medicaid reimbursements in an attempt to recoup some of the lost federal funding.
The losses come as districts face several budget challenges for their 2024-25 school year budgets. The Texas Legislature did not increase public education funding. Federal pandemic relief dollars expire in the fall. And some districts, like Fort Worth ISD, are seeing enrollment declines and now considering closing schools.
Fort Worth Report journalist Matthew Sgroi contributed to this report.
Jacob Sanchez is an enterprise journalist for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or via @_jacob_sanchez. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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