Southern School District in Wymore Among Those Overpaid by the State

By Gordon Hopkins Southern School District in Wymore was among three schools that received overpayments from the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). That overpayment was approximately $482,000.The reason given by NDE is a miscalculation in Tax Equity & Educational Opportunities Support Act (TEEOSA), the public school funding formula that determines how state funds are distributed to local districts.The other two schools are Omaha Public School, which was overpaid an estimated $30.5 million, and Grand Island was overpaid by about $3 million. According to Elizabeth Tegtmeier Nebraska State Board of Education - District 7, “As the funds have already been dispersed, the corrective procedure means in the 2026-2027 school year, NDE will reduce the state aid back to where it should be and deduct the funds they were given in error.”That means Southern School will receive $482,000 less in state aid next year. While the amount is not the millions that the other schools receive, Southern School’s is considerably small and the loss of those funds will likely be a major blow. As a result of the overpayments, some schools may have been shorted. After the overpayment to Omaha was discovered, NDE Commissioner Brian Maher said in a statement, “This error also means that many other districts that rely on equalization aid from the state received less than they should have.” After the overpayment to Omaha first was reported in November, Governor Pillen urged lawmakers to scrap TEEOSA entirely.“This error is another example of how the TEEOSA formula continues to fail Nebraskans. Time and time again, I have said that we must do away with this complex formula that nobody understands and have the state fund schools while providing property tax relief,” Pillen said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this call has fallen on deaf ears with a small group of members of the Legislature, who continue to block any attempt at tax reform. This inaction is hurting kids and creating major challenges for local school boards and leaders as they budget for the future.The governor added, “TEEOSA is a failure, trust in that system is shaken, and it must be reformed.”

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