Audit finds MDE fails to report effectiveness of afterschool programs
JACKSON, Miss. — The Mississippi Department of Education has not published federally required evaluations of afterschool programs for years even as millions in federal grant funds continue to flow to nonprofits and school districts, a new analysis from the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor says.
Analysts found that in fiscal 2024 subgrantees spent more than $11 million in Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) grant funds to provide afterschool care, and that the department requires subgrantees to collect and submit performance data for an annual statewide evaluation. MDE has not submitted the required report to the federal government since November 2022, the report says.
“As we have seen on the news in Minnesota and here at home during the welfare scandal, making sure that these taxpayer funds are monitored is critical,” said Auditor White. “We will continue to highlight any weaknesses we see in the programs providing money for afterschool or childcare centers,” the report quoted him as saying.
State Auditor’s Office analysts also flagged potential conflicts of interest when some subgrantees hired external evaluators who were not independent, including an instance in which an evaluator worked for the nonprofit arm of the organization being evaluated. They said attendance data were grouped in broad multi-day and multi-hour buckets that could count a student who attended a few hours the same as one with perfect attendance.
This is the second report in a series examining taxpayer-funded child care programs in Mississippi. The full report is available on the State Auditor’s website under the “Reports” tab by searching “afterschool.” We will provide more information as it becomes available.
