TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Education Department will continue distributing millions in bus funding despite a recent audit that says the payments are barred under current state law.

The state Board of Education says it will keep paying for school districts’ bus operations under the same formula it’s been using for decades until instructed otherwise. A January independent audit of how transportation aid to districts had been distributed says the formula is based on a law repealed in 1973.

The board held a meeting Jan. 26 in response to a letter from Republican lawmakers urging board members to suspend the Education Department’s top school finance officer pending the audit. But the board voted almost unanimously to support the officer’s continued employment.

Lawmakers have introduced bills to clear up confusion on the transportation aid formula.