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Education dept.
examines distribution
of special-ed aid

By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

The Department of Education is looking at a different way to distribute about $14 million in federal special education aid that is doled out by each district to schools.

"We are looking at a different way because it doesn't quite work the way we would like it," Assistant Superintendent Diana Oshiro told Board of Education members yesterday.

The money is provided under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Debra Farmer, who heads the department's special education section, said 80 percent of the federal funding is allocated to the schools based on the number of eligible special education students while 20 percent is kept at the state level for administrative purposes.

Oshiro and Farmer presented to board members a list of how school districts are spending the money so far this school year:

Honolulu: $1.27 million for personnel, $371,196 for training and $89,500 for equipment and supplies.

Central: $379,628 for personnel, $64,385 for training and 45,866 equipment.

Leeward: $543,314 for personnel, $9,234 for training, and $363,280 for equipment and personnel.

Windward: $990,247 for personnel, $48,493 for training and $175,429 for equipment.

Big Island: $396,013 for personnel, $21,047 for training and $156,264 for equipment.

Maui: $608,742 for personnel, $9,299 for training and $56,134 for equipment.

Kauai: $190,483 for personnel, $241,775 for training and $21,750 for equipment.

Board members complained about the inconsistency in the way the expenditures were reported -- some districts included school reports and a breakdown of spending categories while others didn't.

"Why are there so many options on how to report?" said Garrett Toguchi, Board of Education special programs committee chairman.

Toguchi said it's difficult to account for where the money is going if districts keep track of the funds differently.

"So what do these numbers mean?" board member Karen Knudsen asked.

Knudsen said the department should consider creating a standardized format for reporting expenditures.

But Oshiro and Farmer said that could happen because the department is looking at changing the way it allocates the money to schools.

Farmer said because Hawaii has a single school district and the federal government views the state that way, the state may look at possibly distributing the money from the state level instead of the district level.

That would also give the state flexibility of moving funds around, they said.