How Schools Use Medicaid Money to Pay for Truancy Officers, Deans and Healthy-Eating Magnets

The Daily Signal reports:

At a school board meeting in Henrico County, Va., two months ago, a panel of school district officials and board members had been left speechless.

School district officials were in the midst of crafting the district’s budget for 2016, and the five-member board had just heard a presentation from Assistant Superintendent for Finance Terry Stern, who outlined a $1.1 million plan to fund more than a dozen positions at various schools.

The proposal shocked the board members, who expressed their gratitude toward Stern and her team for crafting the plan.

“That’s incredible,” board member Lisa Marshall said. “Thank you. Did you pull that one out of your hat?”

“I find that remarkable and exciting,” John Montgomery Jr., the board’s chair, said.

The additional $1.1 million came from coffers unknown to the school board, but tapped by school districts across Virginia and the country: Medicaid reimbursements.

Stern proposed using the money to hire three psychologists, three social workers, five part-time truancy workers, five part-time deans of students and reimbursements for mileage.

Are their any limits on what Medicaid will not pay for ?