TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state of Kansas is canceling a grant for an early literacy program for public school children after an audit found the company that administers the course received millions of dollars it wasn’t entitled to during former Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families announced Friday it was ending the contract with Hysell & Wagner, which operated the Kansas Reading Roadmap program.
An audit that began under Brownback’s administration but was never finalized or released found that Hysell & Wagner claimed nearly $2.3 million in 2014 and 2015 that it shouldn’t have, the agency said in a news release. In a typical year, the grant is worth about $9 million.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration has found other problems with Hysell & Wagner’s grant, including excessive payments for executive salaries and expenses from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds, which are designated for needy families. Those expenses included 38 trips between Kansas and CEO residences in Washington, D.C., and San Diego.
“The Department for Children and Families is committed to ensuring that recipients of federal and state funds are spending those funds efficiently,” agency Secretary Laura Howard said. “After reviewing the results of a DCF audit and despite heightened oversight during the first six months of 2019, it’s clear that Hysell & Wagner is falling short of this basic standard.”
The Reading Roadmap program, which is designed to improve literacy and achievement gaps for young elementary students, will continue. The state plans to directly fund the schools planning to offer the program for this academic year.
The director of the Reading Roadmap program, Andrew Hysell, said the company was confident it had properly operated the program, The Wichita Eagle reported .
“We’ll stand behind our administration of this grant. We’ll go before the Legislature. If we need to, to save our reputation, we’ll go before a court,” Hysell said. “We are very 100 percent behind our work.”
The company’s owners received $216,000 in direct expenses, and more than $607,000 was designated in the grant as guaranteed payments for the owners to cover indirect expenses. The expenses charged to the Reading Roadmap grant exceeded a limit of 15 percent of grant costs.
Howard said her agency tried “in good faith” to work with Hysell & Wagner to correct the issues but the company “continues to struggle with the heightened monitoring requirements and has rejected revisions in their FY 2020 contract addressing indirect costs.”
“I’ve always been concerned about the use of no-bid contracts and lack of accountability under the previous administration,” Kelly said in a statement. “It’s clear that the State of Kansas cannot continue to support Hysell & Wagner’s administration of the Kansas Reading Roadmap program.”