$50,400,472.
That’s how much federal funding the Trump administration has frozen for schools in San Diego County. Those funds are part of $6.2 billion in grants frozen by the administration late last month, one day before they were supposed to be distributed.
That last second move has left schools across the country reeling. The frozen grants funded everything from services for English language learners to professional development for teachers to before- and after-school care.
What comes next is anyone’s guess. Is the freeze temporary? Will Trump administration officials attempt to make them permanent?
Unsurprisingly, Trump administration officials have struck a familiar, bombastic tone in communications about the funds. In a statement emailed to KPBS, an official from the Office of Management and Budget wrote that the freeze was a “programmatic review of education funding,” but that “initial findings show that many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda.”
Tony Thurmond, California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, has pledged the state will fight the move in court. He also said the funds had been “illegally impounded.”
Gloria Ciriza, the superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education, echoed the impoundment language in a statement released Wednesday.
“It’s shocking and frustrating to see this level of indifference to programs that have decades-long track records of helping young people find support, belonging, and success,” Ciriza wrote in the statement. “Public school budgets rely on a stable and predictable flow of funding from a combination of local, state, and federal sources. This unprecedented funding freeze will have a devastating impact on San Diego County families and some of our most vulnerable students.”
Who Would Have Gotten What
Locally, the two biggest recipients of the frozen funding are the San Diego County Office of Education and San Diego Unified. Those agencies alone account for more than half of what was allotted to all districts in the region.
The County Office was set to receive $15 million, much of which would have funded its migrant education program and programs outside of school hours, like before- and after-school care. San Diego Unified would have received $11.8 million split fairly evenly across a number of grants, according to the County Office’s data. That San Diego Unified figure is more than $1 million less than district officials have said they were missing out on.
The next three biggest recipients were Sweetwater Union High, Grossmont Union High, Cajon Valley and Chula Vista Elementary.
Cajon Valley Superintendent David Miyashiro struck an optimistic tone. The freeze has deprived the district of about $2.1 million in federal grants, much of which was headed allocated for English language learners and professional development.
“It’s not insignificant, but it’s not catastrophic,” Miyashiro said of the freeze.
Cajon Valley is a uniquely diverse district, Miyashiro said, which means they receive a lot of extra funding from the state. And while the district was counting on that money, they were also recently awarded a $19 million community schools grant that they hadn’t counted on.
“So, we have a really healthy budget to support our students,” Miyashiro said.
In an emailed statement, Giovanna Castro, Chula Vista Elementary’s director of communication wrote that the district will be able to absorb some of the immediate impact of the freezing of the around $2 million in federal funds by using alternate funds.
“However, these funds are scheduled to expire in June 2026, potentially creating a funding gap for the following year. To sustain key programs beyond that point, the district may need to reprioritize and reallocate existing resources,” Castro wrote.
I dare a district to claim this will affect basic education of kids. Far too long districts have used these monies to supplant the districts responsibilities instead of using them to support education for at risk children. Too bad Trustees approve raises and positions with temporary monies like COVID-19 funds.
SUHSD has over 1 million in professional development, for what? The district office to use the monies as they see fit. I’m not a Trumper but districts have been wasting monies for years and nobody cares. Maybe now people will take notice.
Good morning:
You keep reporting that these funds are “frozen.” As a forty-year veteran of public education resource management, that says to me they are not eliminated but “set aside,” perhaps for distribution from the feds to the states. What the states then do with the funds is a question without an answer at this point.
Except for legislatively mandated use of certain funds, the state could end up using the funds for something other than they are intended. Or, some part of the funding could be eliminated, while the rest is distributed. Somewhere at the federal, state, county (in California), or local levels, the funds might be reapplied, missapplied, or used at the discretion of that level’s leadership. It wouldn’t surprise me if the final status of the funds is not decided until September. All of us in the school finance business have seen that happen over and over. Best wishes to all from sunny and dry Chihuahua.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that Trump is insane. It is impossible to run a business or a government under his administration. No one know what direction he is going next or if they can rely on his promises (the answer to that is “NO.”
Trump must be removed from office by whatever means necessary.
8647
86 brucey. Public education is way overfunded. Cut, cut cut the corrupt failed ca ed system!