Oklahoma State Department of Education demands school district return misused COVID relief funds

The Oklahoma State Department of Education ordered a public school district to return over $573,000 of COVID-19 relief funds to the federal government, alleging misuse on athletic facilities.

On Wednesday, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters issued a “Letter of Warning and Request for Remediation” to the Mid-Del School District, stating the district “must return” the funds he claims were unlawfully spent on “athletic lawn services.”

The letter further stated the district “must submit a Corrective Action Plan addressing the strengthening of internal controls and the identification of allowable/non-allowable expenditures in the management of federal funding,” according to The Oklahoman. 

“What we’re looking at here is they misspent $500,000,” Walters said, according to KOCO 5 News. “These are taxpayer dollars that should be spent in the classroom, should’ve been spent on things in accordance with federal guidelines. They did not.” 

Walters accused the district of using funds meant for academics to maintain athletic facilities. The U.S. Department of Education “explicitly prohibits the use of these funds for athletic facilities,” Walters stated in the letter, referencing guidance published on Dec. 7, 2022. 

The school district claimed it used the federal funds on its athletic fields during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, before the new guidelines were published. The district further stated that it used pandemic relief funds “only after receiving guidance and approval from the OSDE at that time.” 

In response to Walters’ allegations, Rick Cobb, superintendent of Mid-Del Public Schools, accused him of “defaming” the district.  

“Your statement was wrong on multiple levels, and I can’t stand idly by and let you defame our great school district or any of the hard-working people handling our federal programs applications and claims, up to and including myself,” Cobb said, according to The Oklahoman. 

Despite the dispute, the district has agreed to return the funds and work with the Office of Title Services to “re-allocate them in a manner that they feel is allowable.”