Bixby Supt. raises questions about Title I funds, Walters calls him a 'liar'

With just a few weeks before the start of the school year, leaders at Bixby Public Schools are feeling a strain.

Superintendent Rob Miller took to 'X' to voice concerns about Title I funding.

Title I funding is federal support for a district to provide resources for students of low-income families.

Miller said in years past he had recieved an estimated allocation in May.

"Up until May of ’22, we would receive from the state department a preliminary estimate," he said. "‘This is the amount of money that we project that you’re going to receive in your allocations for next year.’”

With an ever-growing district, Miller said it's critical to have all budgets as soon as possible to plan for the year ahead.

For the last two years, Miller said his district hasn't received a heads-up about their funding. Not having every dollar accounted for can lead to a number of issues.

“It’s important for us to be able to pinpoint that number as accurately as we can, so that we’re not hiring teachers or staff that possibly we don’t have the budget for, because again we have to parse that all out among the three sites now that will receive Title I funding."

2 News asked state Superintendent Ryan Walters to respond to Miller's claims.

“He’s a liar," said Walters. "I mean he’s truly a real embarrassment. He knows every year when he gets Title I funding… Same way it’s been every year, my team tells me for over a decade. He knows that. It’s been communicated to districts. Rob’s never reached out. Never indicated there was an issue, there’s not an issue. He made it up.”

We asked Miller for a comment after Walters' remark. Miller said it did not warrant a response, but pointed out that his question about preliminary estimates going away was not answered.

The main thing Miller took issue with was a lack of communication from the state board.

He said having a range to plan around has helped in the past - making it hard to plan for the upcoming school year without.

“Applaud those state department employees who are working hard to get that information to us," he said. "What our ask is is give us more time. Give us some preliminary numbers in may because they receive that information from the federal government earlier in the year, January February typically.”

Bixby's first day of school is Aug. 20. That gives Miller and his team about three weeks to allocate their state support, if they received it on the last day of July.

Miller said they use the money to hire aids and teachers to cater to student's different needs. Hiring in August, he said, can be a challenge with many teachers already under contracts.

“This year in particular we were anxious to get those allocations is because we’re adding a third site, a third intermediate site that has reached that threshold and now will have money apportioned for serving those students.”

Walters said districts can expect Title I allocations by the end of August.

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