Clintonville schools awarded rebate in error
By Erik Buchinger
The Clintonville Public School District appealed a decision that could cost the district approximately $69,000.
During its regular meeting in late April, the board was informed of the error that occurred in 2016 when Clintonville was awarded a $69,648 rebate to use for various technology items.
In the fall of 2018, the district received a letter from the Universal Service Administrative Company stating the district may be subject to a recall of those funds.
The USAC is a nonprofit corporation designated by the Federal Communications Commission as the administrator of the Universal Service Fund, a system of telecommunications subsidies and fees.
“Basically, we got a bigger rebate in 2016 than we were entitled to,” Clintonville Public School District Business Manager Holly Burr said in April.
During a school board meeting on June 10, Superintendent David Dyb said the district has been able to appeal the order to repay the money.
“Since that time, (Clintonville Middle School Principal Troy Kuhn) reached out to one of our third-party vendors,” Dyb said. “They did file an appeal on our behalf even though the FCC originally said they were not accepting any appeals.”
Dyb said it is possible the district would not have to pay all the money back.
“There are some background circumstances we won’t get into, but according to the letter we received back, at this point they are saying we do not need to make arrangements to pay that delinquent debt at this time,” Dyb said.
Dyb detailed the list of possibilities that could happen with the appeal.
“They could choose to reinstate the entire amount, they could choose to reinstate a portion of the amount, they could choose to reinstate another payment plan and pay back over several years or they could choose to drop the repayment request,” Dyb said. “We’ll wait and see.”
Dyb said the determination could take several months.