![\"California](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/b0885afb0709d31850a1fa723dbc4e0d.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nShasta County gave back to the state more than $6.2 million earmarked for schools in 2026, after the California State Controller\u2019s Office said it made a clerical error in January.<\/p>\n
That same error shorted Siskiyou County schools $5 million, said Bismarck Obando with the state controller’s office. It was an error the state corrected in March.<\/p>\n
Shasta and Siskiyou were two of 11 California counties affected by the error, he said.<\/p>\n
California State Controller Malia Cohen\u2019s office sent a letter to the Shasta County Office of Education in Redding on Feb. 19 that said “a bank account misalignment in our payment system” caused a mistake in Shasta’s K-12 education apportionment, issued to the county on Jan. 28. Shasta received $27,414,633 when it should have received $21,146,820.94.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe respectfully ask that the County return the overpayment of $6,267,812.06 by March 5, 2026,” the state controller\u2019s office said in the letter. “Please send a check, payable to the SCO, along with a copy of this letter to the address below and reference \u201cK-12 Schools Apportionment\u201d on the check.\u201d<\/p>\n
The good news is schools hadn\u2019t spent or budgeted any of that money when the letter came, said Shasta County Office of Education spokesperson Kerri Schuette. \u201cThere was little to no impact on our districts … The California Department of Education and Department of Finance worked quickly to correct the error, and even in counties where there was a significant underpayment, the impact was relatively minimal,\u201d Schutte said.<\/p>\n
Siskiyou County was underpaid more than $5 million of its $5,407,864 allotted for 2026, Obando said. It received only $371,098 on Jan. 28, and has since received the balance due.<\/p>\n
The funding error didn’t create any problems for the county, said Siskiyou County spokesperson Ali Kutzer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
California State Controller Malia Cohen\u2019s office sent a letter to the Shasta County Office of Education in Redding on Feb. 19, 2026, requesting back more than $6.2 million of the more than $27 million the county received for kindergarten and grade schools in January.<\/p>\n
Note to readers: If you appreciate the work we do here at the Redding Record Searchlight, please consider subscribing yourself<\/a> or giving the gift of a subscription to someone you know.<\/p>\n 11 California counties over or under paid by state for schools<\/p>\n The mistake caused confusion 11 California counties, all of which received too much or too little money due them because of the error, Obando said. The other nine were San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Sutter.<\/p>\n All counties’ budgets “have been made whole” now, he said on Monday.<\/p>\n As a result of the mistake, the controller’s office said in a statement to the Record Searchlight it would implement new safeguards including “enhancing review and approval processes.”<\/p>\n California requests Sutter County give back $80M<\/p>\n Sutter County \u2014 with a population of fewer than 100,000 \u2014 reported it had to give back more than $80 million in state over payment.<\/p>\n County staff caught the error early, made obvious by the fact Sutter got more than four times the money expected, Sutter Auditor\/Controller Nathan Black said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a weird one,\u201d Black told the Sutter County Board of Supervisors at their March 10 meeting in Yuba City<\/a>. \u201cThe state controller\u2019s office accidentally added a row to their distribution worksheet which meant that a bunch of counties got other counties\u2019 monies. Sutter County got $105 million dollars, and we were only supposed to get around $25 (million).\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t even know how to respond,\u201d said an unidentified supervisor off camera at the meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sutter also got a letter from the state controller’s office asking the county to pay back the money by check, Black said. \u201cCan you imagine that? Eighty million dollars on a warrant on a check?\u201d The county opted to do an electronic transfer instead, he said.<\/p>\n Part of Sutter\u2019s over payment was money intended for Stanislaus County, which was shorted $60 million. That money went right into Sutter\u2019s account where it earned interest until it was returned. \u201cWe intend to keep the (interest) earnings from the money,\u201d Black said at the supervisors’ meeting.<\/p>\n Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight\/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories.\u00a0Follow\u00a0her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic<\/a>\u00a0and on Facebook<\/a>. Join Jessica on Record Searchlight Facebook groups Get Out! Nor Cal<\/a>\u00a0, Today in Shasta County<\/a> and Shaping Redding\u2019s Future<\/a>. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.<\/a><\/p>\n This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta schools return $6.2M in school funds after state error<\/a><\/p>\n