Alaska school districts could lose unspent federal money if they don't spend it fast

Some Alaska school districts are sitting on federal money they haven't spent — and the clock to use it is nearly up. Any leftover funds from last year's federal education grants have to be spent, or at least committed, by Sept. 30, or the districts lose them for good. There's no extension.

The catch is the timing. Not every district has money left over, and the state won't send warning notices to the ones that do until mid-July — leaving them roughly 10 weeks to spend what's left and file for reimbursement. In a state where districts scrap over every dollar of school funding, leaving federal money on the table would be a hard loss.

It's not the only federal education deadline landing at the end of September, either. Several are converging at once, with no extra funding to follow.