Minneapolis Public Schools lost out on $4.1 million in state and federal special education aid during the 2025-26 school year due to a district accounting mistake, raising questions about the district’s beleaguered finance office, which has been understaffed and working with outdated technology for years.
The district has not previously disclosed the foul-up, which involved MPS underreporting its special education expenses and subsequently losing out on state and federal reimbursement. The school board was told about the mishap in January. In May, district officials touted new procedures to increase state and federal special education aid by properly accounting for expenses, without mentioning the lost $4.1 million.
The Reformer uncovered the error through a public records request. The lost funding is roughly enough to pay 35 teachers for a school year…