A Panhandle school district has avoided

sanctions after its superintendent returned federal stimulus funds

to the Oklahoma Department of Education.

The state Board of Education could have voted Thursday to place

the Texhoma Public Schools on probation pending non-accreditation

because it failed to return $658.78 in stimulus funds. The money

was for a pre-kindergarten program, which Texhoma doesn’t offer

because of a deal with the adjoining Texhoma, Texas, school

district.

Misty Kimbrough, the assistant state superintendent for special

education services, says the agency had been trying to get the

money returned since April and that because Texhoma did not, the

agency must answer an audit finding by the state.

Texhoma Superintendent Eric Smith called it a “gross

oversight” on his part. The board took no action against the

district.