Department of Education: Forfeiting of Federal Grant Funding, State Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 (November 1, 2024)

Summary

Letter dated November 1, 2024, from Lisa Coons, Superintendent of Public Instruction, to the chairpersons of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and House Appropriations Committee, reporting forfeited federal grant funding as a state agency reporting requirement directs. It states that during state fiscal year (FY) 2024 the Virginia Department of Education returned $1,137,597.20 in IDEA funds to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) on behalf of two school divisions that did not fulfill specific requirements under IDEA for Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CCEIS). It states that $299,246.67 was returned on behalf of Chesterfield County Public Schools and $838,350.52 on behalf of Hampton City Public Schools.

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Full text

                                  COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
         Lisa Coons, Ed.D.                   DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION                                  Office: (804) 225-2057
Superintendent of Public Instruction               P.O. BOX 2120                                       Fax: (804) 371-2099
                                                  RICHMOND, VA 23218-2120


          November 1, 2024

         The Honorable L. Louise Lucas                    The Honorable Luke E. Torian
         Chairperson, Senate Finance and                  Chairperson, House Appropriations Committee
         Appropriations Committee                         Virginia General Assembly
         Virginia General Assembly                        4222 Fortuna Plaza, Suite 659
         P. O. Box 700                                    Dumfries, Virginia 22025
         Portsmouth, Virginia 23705-0700

         Dear Senator Lucas, and Delegate Torian,

         § 4-8.02 STATE AGENCIES, d. of Chapter 2, 2024 Special Session I of the General Assembly,
         contains the following reporting requirement which states:

                   d. Any state agency that is required to return federal grant funding as a result of not
                   fulfilling the specifications of a grant, shall, as soon as practicable but no later than
                   November 1st, report to the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and Appropriations and
                   House Appropriations Committees of such forfeiting of federal grant funding.

         During state fiscal year (FY) 2024, the Virginia Department of Education, in its oversight role
         for Virginia’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) special education grant,
         returned $1,137,597.20 in IDEA funds to the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) on behalf
         of two school divisions which did not fulfill specific requirements under IDEA for
         Comprehensive Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CCEIS). The source of the returned
         funds was the school divisions’ IDEA formula subgrant. $299,246.67 was returned to USDOE
         on behalf of Chesterfield County Public Schools, and $838,350.52 was returned on behalf of
         Hampton City Public Schools. The Virginia Department of Education has worked with the
         school divisions on necessary corrective actions to fulfill the program requirements going
         forward. Additional details regarding this forfeiture of funding are enclosed in the appendix to
         this document.

         There are no other forfeited federal grant funds as a result of not fulfilling the specifications of a
         grant to report for FY 2024.
The Honorable L. Louise Lucas
The Honorable Luke E. Torian
November 1, 2024
Page Two

If you have any questions or require additional information relative to this transmittal, please
contact me or Christina Berta, Chief Operations Officer, at (804) 225-2025.

Sincerely,


    Lisa                          Digitally signed by Lisa Coons
                                  Date: 2024.10.30 07:18:31

    Coons
Lisa Coons                        -04'00'

LC/as
CC: The Honorable Aimee Rogstad Guidera, Secretary of Education
The Honorable L. Louise Lucas
The Honorable Luke E. Torian
November 1, 2024
Page Three

Appendix



Hampton City Public Schools

Notification from the Virginia Department of Education to Hampton City Public Schools
regarding the requirement to reserve the required funding for CCEIS was initially made on
November 13, 2020. On October 2, 2023, VDOE notified Hampton City Public Schools that
there were two areas of noncompliance with the requirement to implement CCEIS from two
separate awards from federal fiscal year (FFY) 2021. The amounts involved were $169,165.87
identified from the FFY 2021 Part B American Rescue Plan (ARP) award and $669,184.65
identified from the IDEA Part B Flow-through award. The grant awards from FFY 2021 expired
on September 30, 2023. The Virginia Department of Education has worked with Hampton City
Public Schools to mitigate future forfeiture of these federal funds and to meet the requirements
associated with the federal funds moving forward.

Chesterfield County Public Schools

Chesterfield County Public Schools forfeited $299,246.67 due to noncompliance with allowable
uses under CCEIS prior to the grant’s expiration period. This noncompliance is associated with
the IDEA Part B Flow-through award. The grant awards from FFY 2021 expired on September
30, 2023. The Virginia Department of Education has worked with Chesterfield County Public
Schools to develop corrective actions to mitigate the loss of federal funding and to meet the
requirements associated with the federal funds moving forward.


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