The agency must recover any school-fund overallocation from a school district, and may use a limited five-school-year recovery period in special cases.
Sec. 48.272. RECOVERY OF OVERALLOCATED FUNDS. (a) If a school district has received an overallocation of state funds, the agency shall, by withholding from subsequent allocations of state funds for the current or subsequent school year or by requesting and obtaining a refund, recover from the district an amount equal to the overallocation. (b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the agency may recover an overallocation of state funds over a period not to exceed the subsequent five school years if the commissioner determines that the overallocation was the result of exceptional circumstances reasonably caused by statutory changes to Chapter 46 or 49 or this chapter and related reporting requirements. (c) If a district fails to comply with a request for a refund under Subsection (a), the agency shall certify to the comptroller that the amount constitutes a debt for purposes of Section 403.055, Government Code. The agency shall provide to the comptroller the amount of the overallocation and any other information required by the comptroller. The comptroller may certify the amount of the debt to the attorney general for collection. (d) Any amounts recovered under this section shall be deposited in the foundation school fund. (e) Subject to Subsection (f), the agency may review a school district as necessary to determine if the district qualifies for each allotment received by the district under this chapter. If the agency determines that a school district received an allotment to which the district was not entitled, the agency may establish a corrective action plan or withhold the applicable amount of funding from the district. (f) The agency may not review school district expenditures that occurred seven or more years before the review. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., 1st C.S., Ch. 4 (S.B. 1), Sec. 57.24, eff. September 28, 2011. Transferred, redesignated and amended from Education Code, Section 42.258 by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 943 (H.B. 3), Sec. 1.042, eff. September 1, 2019.