An unexplained delay has held up more than $11 million in federal funding that Vermont schools expected to receive next week — and it’s unclear when, or if, schools will get the money.
Education Secretary Zoie Saunders sounded the alarm in a June 16 email to superintendents bearing a subject line that read, in part, “Urgent update.” She warned the school leaders that Vermont has yet to receive its federal allocations for Title IIA and Title III grants, which the U.S. Department of Education awards to states each year.
Typically, the feds tell states in early spring how much they can expect for the following school year. The funds are then made available on July 1. But the feds have yet to give any notice, just days before the money is usually available.
The grants represent a collective $11.3 million that school districts have already written into their budgets for next school year. About $10.8 million in Title IIA funds is for teacher training. A smaller number of schools are eligible for about $500,000 worth of Title III funds, which support instruction for English learners. States across the country are facing the same delay.
Congress approved the grant funding in March, so President Donald Trump’s administration does not have the authority to withhold the money — though it may still try. The Trump administration has already called for $12 billion in cuts to the U.S. Department of Education for the fiscal year that begins on October 1, including eliminating Title IIA and Title III grant programs.
As of now, there doesn’t appear to be a threat to the larger Title I program, which helps students in high-poverty schools, or Title IV, which supports activities intended to improve students’ academic achievement.
The delay is the latest example of how uncertainty and budget cuts at the federal level are trickling down to local schools.
In March, the Trump administration clawed back more than $11 million in COVID-19 relief funds intended for Vermont schools and the Agency of Education. Saunders told State Board of Education members last week that her agency has submitted waivers to try to get some of that money to pay for around 80 projects — some of which have already been completed and paid for by school districts that expected to be reimbursed. One waiver was approved, one was denied, and the rest are still pending.
School administrators have also voiced concerns about how proposed federal cuts to Medicaid will affect schools. Currently, school districts can bill the program for costs related to school health workers, mental and behavioral services, and equipment and transportation for students with disabilities.
Otherwise, the memo says, districts may have to reallocate money from other sources or cut programs.
Some administrators said this week that they have enough unspent federal money from last year to support programs through at least a portion of next school year, as Saunders suggested. Among them is the North Country Supervisory Union, which has enough Title IIA money to use through the end of 2025, according to Jessica Applegate, the district’s director of learning design.
Saunders told State Board of Education members last week that she was confident her team could navigate the federal uncertainty.
“Everyone is very much laser-focused on evaluating the changing landscape,” she said, “and working with the field to communicate clearly what we know.”