State audit finds $8–$12 million in unrecovered state costs tied to federal K–12 programs

Salt Lake City — The Utah State Board of Education presented an external performance audit estimating that the state used roughly $8 million to $12 million in state funds across a three‑year sample to satisfy administrative and compliance obligations tied to federal K‑12 programs.

Deputy Superintendent Scott Jones summarized the audit by GPP Analytics, which examined direct, indirect and ancillary administrative costs the state education agency absorbs in order to meet federal reporting and compliance requirements. "Over those three years the auditors estimated about $8 to $12 million of state funds were used to meet requirements of federal programs," Jones said, noting that the figure represents roughly 2% of federal funds flowing through the agency in the sampled years.

Auditors identified the largest unrecovered ancillary costs in assessment and data/statistics work, legal and policy support, grants management and monitoring. The report noted that federal reporting volume drives substantial workload in the data and statistics section; one slide summarized that 70–80% of required reporting workload in that section stems from federal requests.

Board leaders and commissioners discussed tradeoffs. "Do we want to cut ties with federal funds?" asked one member, noting that in many cases the federal funds support programs (special education, child nutrition) serving large numbers of students. Board chair Matt Hymas said the audit confirms the board is "doing a fairly good job" but that the findings prompt policy questions about whether to accept federal funds with their requirements or seek alternative state approaches.

Commissioners suggested follow‑up work to analyze pass‑through funds to local education agencies and to consider pilots that reduce federal strings where the state can substitute state resources. The board and commission agreed that more granular analysis would be useful before pursuing legislative or structural changes.

No immediate policy change was adopted; the Board of Education will return with further questions and potential targeted follow‑ups for commissioners to consider.