Maryland state education officials say the federal government owes them $232 million that was promised — and they want their money.

If they don’t get it, there could be a big hole in the state’s budget, and perhaps those of some local school districts’, too.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has filed suit with other attorneys general across the nation to get reimbursed. The state education officials have billed the federal government — multiple times — and haven’t heard back for weeks.

State and local education officials, in a panic, scrambled to count their receipts and look at bills paid and unpaid. School systems had been using the money to tutor students, renovate school health suites and hold after-school activities.

State officials detailed their findings at the Maryland State Board of Education meeting on Tuesday. Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright said they have submitted requests for reimbursements to the federal government for about $127.5 million three different times: once in January, once three days after the edict came down from the federal education department, and then again on April 8.

But there’s another $42 million that school districts had spent by March 28, and hadn’t yet submitted their receipts to the state asking for payment. Roughly another $56 million was not spent or was in the process of being spent by local school districts. And some $7 million had never been spent.

The U.S. Department of Education agreed to consider reimbursements under some narrow provisions. Maryland is just one of the states that have submitted or resubmitted bills.

Wright said that no other state has heard from the federal education department yet. If that money isn’t reimbursed, she said, “that is something we are going to work obviously not just with the governor but also with the legislature. We are going to have to huddle around the table ... and then see, what does that mean for the state and what are we going to do about it?”

While the state will have to pick up the tab for at least the $127.5 million it has already paid the school systems, it may ask local school systems to pay the remainder of the bill.

The loss of money will mean that local school systems must cut their spending, said state school board Vice President Monica Goldson, adding: “We are falling off of the cliff very quickly.”

In total, the amount of money that has already been spent, state school board President Josh Michael said, comes to $168 million. If they don’t get reimbursed from the federal government, the cost will be real. “That could mean salaries for 2,000 teachers next year. It could mean 12,000 students in our prekindergarten program. We will have to come up with this money. These are real dollars.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.