Back to TEA News

For the Fiscal Year Ending Aug. 31, 2021
TEA "Recovered" $3.86 Million from Audits
And Financial Reviews of ISDs and Charters

The TEA assessed penalties amounting to a total of $3,864,624.57 in Foundation School Program (FSP)
tea-financial-compliance.04
reductions to ISDs and charters as a result of various audits and financial reviews that were completed during state Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, which ended on Aug. 31, 2021.

The just released report by the TEA Financial Compliance Division reflects that:
  • $1,082,404 was recovered from 95 (56 percent) of the 168 student attendance accounting reviews that were completed.

    The remaining 73 (44 percent) completed attendance accounting reviews of ISDs and charters resulted in no penalty being assessed, and there were no reports of districts receiving state funding refunds due to the reporting of attendance undercounts.

  • $2,672,529 was recovered from the Texas Can Academies charter district as a result of a completed special student attendance audit.

    The TEA found no issues as a result of the completed special attendance audits of Bremond ISD and the Cumberland Academy and Harmony School of Excellence charter districts.

  • $109,691.57 was recovered from four ISDs as a result of the TEA's review of ISD superintendent severance agreements.

    They are (with the amount recovered) the: 1) Wharton ($5,717.57), 2) Dodd City ($22,517), 3) Burkeville ($37,703), and 4) Childress ($43,754) districts.


Superintendent severance agreement reviews that were completed by the TEA for 18 other ISDs resulted in no FSP reductions.

State law (summarized here) requires the TEA to reduce FSP funding to an ISD or charter by the amount that a severance payment to a superintendent exceeds one year's salary and benefits under the superintendent's terminated contract.

No charters were on the TEA's list of superintendent severance reviews that had been completed — or were underway — as of the end of FY 2021.

A new law (2021's HB189/regular session) that enforces the same severance pay limits on charter school superintendents/chief executive officers as ISD superintendents became effective on June 4, 2021 (toward the end of FY 2021).

The report was prepared for inclusion as an informational item in the Jan. 25-28 State Board of Education agenda.