Senators press DOE over CIP reporting, long-standing projects and audit findings

Department of Education officials updated the Senate Committee on Education on Jan. 30 on capital improvement program (CIP) management and defended recent delivery while acknowledging weaknesses in data and reporting. A DOE representative said the department manages more than 21.5 million square feet across over 260 sites and has 42 active construction projects with balances exceeding $1,000,000. The department reported that it completed 23 construction projects valued at $235 million in the six months ending December 2025.

DOE officials told senators they are rebuilding CIP governance, prioritization and data integrity and cited board of education direction requiring regular CIP updates, an updated facilities‑condition assessment and clearer prioritization methods. The board‑approved CIP for the biennium was presented in testimony (board: $784,400,000; combined with act language total: $950,900,000; executive budget: $475,500,000), and DOE described creation of 11 categorical lump‑sum CIP buckets intended to increase flexibility.

Committee members repeatedly pressed DOE to produce a familiar, itemized project report the committee first received in 2023. Senators said the committee needs columns showing design and construction obligation dates, status and project completion estimates. DOE responded that system exports exist but must be reformatted into the committee’s requested layout and that staff are working to provide the updated report.

Deputy Superintendent Jesse Tsuki provided encumbrance figures: a June 2025 snapshot at $798.2 million in encumbered, unexpended funds and a more recent internal processing figure of approximately $592 million tied to ~800 contracts. Senators sought a crosswalk between the department’s internal formats and the committee’s requested report; DOE agreed to deliver that crosswalk and to add the requested columns.

Beyond reporting mechanics, senators raised audit findings. The committee cited a recent 'heat‑abatement' audit that the auditor said revealed inconsistent, incomplete and sometimes contradictory record keeping and limited ability to verify spending. A senator described parts of the education system as “failing” and cited committee records showing $2.7 billion in unspent CIP funds and $1 billion in obligated CIP funds (figures provided by the senator from committee research). DOE leaders pushed back against a blanket characterization of system failure and said they have delivered projects successfully in some complex cases while acknowledging the need for systemwide improvements.

Senators also pressed on project backlog and age: DOE confirmed it is pulling together reports on projects that date back as far as 2005 (the year DAGS transferred responsibilities) and said staff will provide the committee a breakdown of ages and statuses. Committee members warned that long delays increase costs and urged DOE and the board of education to make hard prioritization decisions, including considering whether to scrap or re‑scope projects.

Why it matters: Senators framed the issue as both a transparency and execution problem: the legislature must decide how to fund and prioritize projects, but it needs reliable, up‑to‑date project data to do so. Multiple senators said they will propose bills on CIP governance and oversight in the current session if the department cannot demonstrate improved accountability.

Ending: DOE committed to providing the committee the reformatted project list, a crosswalk to the committee’s requested columns and additional detail on project age and completion status.