Attorney General Gentner Drummond released an “expedited opinion” regarding the distribution of school security funds. Drummond tells State Superintendent Ryan Walters that he needs to immediately send out the “long overdue” funds.
Walters requested this opinion on August 12th, saying the law wasn’t clear on how to distribute the funds, claiming lawmakers couldn’t agree on a legislative intent.
The question at hand was if schools could roll over unused school security funding from year to year.
The attorney general says today he found it “deeply troubling” that the superintendent failed to administer the funds correctly.
“Let’s ask the AG for an opinion so we have clarity on the $50 million and whether it rolls over or not,” said Ryan Walters on News 9 last week. “We have to make sure that we’re using funds above board legally.”
The opinion from Drummond states that schools can roll over unused money from year to year, as long as they use all of the available funds by the end of the program.
OSDE was directed to distribute $50 million to schools across the state to hire school resource officers and enhance school security. The school security money was approved by the state legislature after the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.
The opinion from Attorney General Gentner Drummond states “A plain reading of the statute demonstrates legislative intent to provide $50,000,000 in each of the three years of the Program.”
Drummond says in a statement he is frustrated that Walters waited more than a year before requesting this opinion saying “Those wasted months have resulted in school districts not receiving millions of dollars in funds they could have used to bolster security and protect students
The opinion also notes that OSDE’s guidance to schools was inconsistent, saying the department “arbitrarily and without notice, reversed course and zeroed out the district balances”
Drummond says that money needs to be delivered immediately, saying he will not tolerate further delay.
“I pray that your failure to deploy these funds does not result in deadly consequences,” said Drummond.
State Superintendent Walters said in a statement:
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our students and at NO time have our schools gone without security funding in any way. Due to ambiguity in the statute passed by the legislature, there was a question of whether some districts that did spend certain security funds in the previous fiscal year could legally roll over that money to this year. The legislature considered, but did not pass, an amendment that would have removed any doubt about the rollover issue. To get clarity on these legal issues, I requested this opinion from the Attorney General and our agency may now move forward.”
Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat released the following statement:
“I appreciate Attorney General Drummond for issuing a concise and expedited opinion on this matter,” Pro Tem Treat said. “The legislative intent was clear and shouldn’t have needed an Attorney General’s opinion. Regardless, the circumstances we are facing made it necessary. While I will let the attorney general’s opinion speak for itself, I am going to remain focused on ensuring the money to protect children is distributed to school districts as intended and immediately. Lawmakers spoke loud and clear when we passed this legislation. It is now my hope there are no further delays complying with the law.”
See the full opinion below.