Jul. 18—School districts in Morgan, Limestone and Lawrence counties are waiting for a total of more than $2.7 million in federal funding for education-related programs — nearly three weeks after the scheduled distribution date.
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., and nine other Senate Republicans sent a letter Wednesday to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, encouraging him to disburse the funding, which Congress had previously approved and President Donald Trump had signed into law, for the 2025 — 26 school year.
“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” the letter reads. “This funding goes directly to states and local school districts, where local leaders decide how this funding is spent, because as we know, local communities know how to best serve students and families. Withholding this funding denies states and communities the opportunity to pursue localized initiatives to support students and their families.”
A total of $6.9 billion has been frozen nationally since June 30, when state education officials learned the money would be under review. The funding supports teacher positions and professional development (Title II-A), summer and after-school programs (Title IV-B), English language learners (Title III-A), and migrant students (Title I-C) in Alabama.
According to data from the Alabama Department of Education, schools in north Alabama were set to receive the following amounts:
—Athens City Schools: $233,740
—Decatur City Schools: $657,363
—Hartselle City Schools: $79,863
—Lawrence County Schools: $297,758
—Limestone County Schools: $1,139,550
—Morgan County Schools: $349,101
Of the frozen funds in the area, $1.96 million would go toward Title II for professional development and class-size reduction.
“The purpose of Title II, Part A is to increase the academic achievement of all students by helping schools and districts improve teacher and principal quality and effectiveness,” according to the State Department of Education.
Lawrence County Schools Superintendent Jon Bret Smith believes funds will be released after a federal review.
“My hope is that this is not completely going away,” Smith said. “I understand fiscal accountability and wanting to make sure that government funds are correctly appropriated and spent in relation to the intention in which they were given, so I support fiscal accountability. I’m not under the impression at this time they’re going away.”
OMB explained in a statement that many of the grant programs from which funds are being withheld misused the money “to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda.”
The funding Lawrence County Schools was approved for would cover teacher training and partially cover the district instructional coordinator position. The district encourages teachers to attend training during the summer rather than the school year, and it provides staff members with stipends for doing so.
“If we don’t receive these funds, fortunately, we have a healthy reserve, and so those things won’t immediately go away, but we’ll have to start reducing service and things that we’re able to do for our teachers and employees in the future,” Smith said. “The sky is not falling, but we will have to adjust our budget and our expenditures for the amount of revenue that we receive.”
Federal funding has been particularly helpful for the district, as it receives less local funding than some other school districts, according to Smith.
“Rural school districts, like Lawrence County, that have an exceptionally high poverty rate, rely on federal funds to make up the difference in what we would have if we were a more affluent district,” Smith said. “We have been very blessed over the years to receive federal funds in a variety of different ways, and we hope that those things continue.”
Morgan County Schools, Hartselle City Schools and Athens City Schools previously told The Daily they would need to rely on local funding if OMB doesn’t release the money.
The Third Street and Oak Park Boys and Girls Club locations in Decatur are also awaiting more than $200,000 from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant.
Boys and Girls Club of North Alabama CEO and President Patrick Wynn previously told The Daily the locations may need to charge a small fee as a last resort if funding is not restored, but he’s averse to doing so.
— GraciAnn.Goodin@DecaturDaily.com or 256-340-2437