Trump Administration Hold on Education Funds Threatens Programs
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — An after-school program that enhances students' school day learning is at risk due to actions of the Trump administration.
The Department of Education notified states that it is withholding more than $6 billion in federal grants for K-12 education.
That includes $108 million for schools in Massachusetts. And, the North Adams Public Schools are at risk for losing some of the $740,000 in grants it expects to gets under the federal Title I, Title II and Title IV programs.
Superintendent Timothy Callahan said the delayed funding will affect some professional development and salaries, such as leadership staff who may get a small percentage of their salary from the grants, but the larger concern is the district's 21st Century programming.
According to the district's website, the 21st Century Afterschool programs offer students from kindergarten through 12th grade enrichment programs in areas including: math, science, English language arts, social studies, social-emotional learning, career pathways, visual and performing arts and fitness.
"We did get the summer funding so our summer program is running as planned," Callahan said. "We're anticipating completing the July and August summer programming without any issues, but we will not be planning for fall programming until the money is freed up."
Gov. Maura Healey last week condemned the Trump administration's unilateral decision to withhold funds already appropriated by the U.S. Congress. States were to begin receiving the grants on July 1.
On June 30, the Department of Education notified states that the previously awarded grants are being reviewed to ensure they "align with President Trump's priorities," according to a news release from the Healy Administration.
Entitlement grants are secured by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and are based on a federal calculation.
"These are federal funds that are obligated to us through the law," Callahan explained. "And so they are guaranteed to us, but the federal government has decided to withhold them under further review, even though legally, we have to get them at some point. But we don't know how long that could take, and so if it ends up taking five months, then we would have no after-school program in the fall, or a very minimal one, just based on community partners who are providing some after-school opportunities."
In the neighboring Mount Greylock Regional School District, the hold on federal education grants is less severe but still a threat.
"It's a total of about $50,000 for us in the coming year, which goes toward professional development and some textbooks and some services for students characterized as homeless," interim Superintendent Joseph Bergeron said on Wednesday. "It will really only impact us when we get into September, October, November as we spend the money and look for reimbursement if the hold is still in place.
"If [the hold lasts through] this summer, our district is OK because of the timing of when we want to use the money."
Bergeron said it is too soon to make specific contingency plans to address a potential shortfall that lasts into the academic year. But the $50,000 loss is not one that would, for example, have the district looking for special town meetings in member towns Lanesborough and Williamstown to address the gap.
What worries him more, from the district's perspective, is any potential shakeup to federal nutrition funding for schools, which is around $750,000 for the Mount Greylock district.
"This past year, at one point the federal government signaled it was going to pause that until certain pledges or other things were made, and then they quickly changed," Bergeron said. "If something happens there, we have thoughts on how we navigate it, but none of it is very pretty."
Because of the way the commonwealth distributes the Title funding Massachusetts receives to local school districts, the specific grants paused last week do not impact Mount Greylock as much as other districts. A hold on $50,000 represents about 0.2 percent of the district's $28.8 million gross operating budget.
"These aren't like extra funds," Callahan said. "These are funds that support improvements in key areas. That's why we're awarded them. Title funding is to improve student outcomes, and so now the funding to improve student outcomes has been withheld. That is very painful for our community."
iBerkshires reached out to the Pittsfield Public Schools for this article for this article but did not receive any response by Friday.
Tags: after school programs, entitlements, federal grants,
