NDE finance officer outlines $2 billion flow-through, operations make up about 7%

At the Feb. 7 State Board of Education meeting, Bryce Wilson, finance officer for the Nebraska Department of Education, presented a high-level overview of the agency’s budget, telling board members that more than $2 billion flows through the department and that most of that — roughly 93% — is pass-through education aid to schools.

Wilson said the department’s operating budget makes up the remaining roughly 7% and pays for staff salaries, rent, contracts and other agency costs. He explained that, when the aid portion is removed, federal funds account for about 62% of the department’s operating budget, state general funds about 27%, and cash funds about 11 percent. Wilson also described the agency’s major operating categories: regular education, vocational rehabilitation (about $37 million), disability determination (about $16 million), and smaller programs for services for the blind and services for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Wilson walked board members through the State’s budget process, noting Nebraska is a biennial budgeting state and describing timelines for governor’s recommendations and Appropriations Committee testimony. He said the department cannot move money between legislative “buckets”; appropriation language governs how funds may be spent.

Board members asked clarifying questions about the proportion of federal funds that are flow-through to schools versus funds used for department administration, and Wilson explained that some federal grants include both pass-through aid and a smaller administrative allocation to support state management of the grant.

The presentation was informational; no formal action was taken on the budget presentation during the meeting.