State education officials say they're correcting an Omaha Public Schools accounting error that resulted in a $5.6 million overpayment in special-education funding, which in turn short-changed every other public school district in Nebraska.
The Nebraska Department of Education discovered the error while conducting a yearly financial review.
Department finance director Shane Rhian said Tuesday that the district mistakenly claimed expenses from the state over a two-year period that had already been reimbursed with federal stimulus money.
The overpayments during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years resulted in less funding for other districts.
For instance, state auditors found that Lincoln schools were underpaid by nearly $885,000.
State Auditor Mike Foley says he believes the discrepancy was unintentional.
But he says he finds it "remarkable" that the error went through unnoticed.
