Toledo Public School Says State Owes $12M in Funding (OH)

November 15, 2010

The cash-strapped Toledo Public SchoolDistrict is demanding money from the state they say they are owed: over $12million worth.

TPS claims the problem lies in a faultyfunding formula.

<p&g t;You see, state funding is distributed based onthe number of students attending. The disagreement lies in where the state gottheir attendance numbers for TPS.

The district says it appears they took thosenumbers from local charter schools instead of from the district itself and TPSsays those numbers were too low.

"The calculation was really being drivenby the department and until others could go through it and find out that therewere errors, I don’t think anybody discovered it," said TPS Treasurer DanRomano.

"And you know how it is when you’re dealingwith a government agency. You say, well, we disagree and they say well you candisagree but here’s your formula," said TPS School Board President BobVasquez.

But after Cincinnati City Schools won a courtcase over this same argument, TPS decided to band together with Cleveland andDayton to demand their money and that likely means suing.

"If we don’t see any movement by the endof November or in December then my belief is that action will be filed,"said Romano.

The district says they are owed about $4million for 2005, 2006 and 2007– more than $12 million total.

But, they insist, this is coming up now onlybecause the legal process takes time not because of other financial issues.

"It is not a reaction to the levy, it isnot a reaction to anything right now. It’s something that we’ve always felt wehad coming to us but it’s a matter of law," said Vasquez.

TPS says they would like to settle the caseout of court but that does not seem likely. The school board is expected toapprove pursuing court action at their meeting on November 23rd.