Kansas audit flags $385,000 in sampled bilingual-fund spending

Kansas auditors classified 74 expenses worth about $385,000 as not directly attributable to bilingual programs in a review of selected school-district spending. The findings cover a nonrandom sample, not all Kansas districts, and do not establish statewide noncompliance.

The Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit reported the findings Oct. 7, 2026, after reviewing 341 expenditures totaling nearly $4.1 million from 25 districts during the 2024–25 school year. The flagged expenses were 22% of the items reviewed and about 9% of the sample’s dollar value. Twelve districts had at least one flagged expense; spending reviewed in the other 13 appeared compliant.

Kansas law requires bilingual-fund expenditures to be directly attributable to a bilingual program, but does not define that phrase. The auditors’ review included examples such as a baby-shower cake, diapers, food trucks and nearly $20,000 in speaking fees for a member of the Zac Brown Band. The audit’s classification is not a finding of fraud or intentional misuse.

How districts reported spending the funds

The 25 selected districts reported spending $36 million from bilingual funds in 2024–25. About $35 million, or 96%, went to salaries and benefits. State bilingual funding covered about $28 million, or 77%, of that total; other state or local funds covered roughly $8 million. The districts represented 54% of Kansas English learners, but neither the districts nor the expenses selected for detailed testing were chosen randomly.

The audit says Kansas provided $51 million statewide in 2024–25 to serve about 48,000 English learners. It also cautions that its accounting may understate total spending on English-learner services because some federal Title III costs are recorded separately.

Auditors recommended that lawmakers clarify what “directly attributable” means or specify allowable spending. They also urged the Kansas Department of Education to expand its spending guidance and define the term in guidance and training. KSDE generally agreed with the findings and said it would review bilingual and English for Speakers of Other Languages guidance, but it said it would not adopt the recommendation to define the term.

Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools said its flagged expenses chiefly involved early-childhood supplies and staff incorrectly coded to bilingual funds. The district described staffing audits, monitoring and additional guidance as steps to improve oversight. Satanta USD 507 argued that its spending was allowable under current law. The audit records disagreement over how the statutory standard applies.

English-learner dropout rates rose

The report also compared graduation and dropout rates for English learners and all students. English learners’ graduation rate changed little from 2020 to 2024, while their dropout rate increased. The all-student dropout rate was unchanged over those years.

Across the five years analyzed, the average dropout rate was 2.7% for English learners and 1.5% for all students. The report does not link the spending findings to those outcome trends.

KSDE said the audit could inform the Education Funding Task Force as it finalized recommendations for the 2027 legislative session. The audit itself does not change the law or require an automatic funding or program change; whether lawmakers will act on its recommendations remains undecided.