MANSFIELD — Just two days into a new fiscal year, Holly Christie opened her email to find out nearly $500,000 her school district was expecting from the federal government wasn’t coming — at least not yet.
Public schools were expecting to receive grant award notifications for federal Title funds at the beginning of July. Instead, the U.S. Department of Education notified state education officials on June 30 that the funds were on pause, throwing school district budgets into a state of limbo.
“The immediate impact of losing these funds is the uncertainty for the upcoming year,” said Christie, director of student support programs at Mansfield City Schools.
“We were counting on these funds, as they are essential for our daily operations.”
The funds being withheld by the Trump administration total more than $6 billion nationwide.
These congressionally-appropriated funds are designated under federal law for specific purposes. Those include teacher professional development, academic enrichment, technology, services for English language learners and children of migrant workers, before- and after-school programs and adult literacy programs.
Mansfield City Schools isn’t the only district being impacted by the withholding of Title funds.
An analysis by the Learning Policy Institute estimated funding withheld for Ohio alone totals more than $184 million — about 12.5 percent of the state’s federal education funding.
Last year, Madison Local Schools received just over $157,564 from the three paused Title programs, according to Supt. Rob Peterson.
“At this time, we have not heard if or when new allocations will be released for Title II-A, Title III-A, or Title IV,” Peterson said.
“Considering our current financial state, losing these Title funds would have a significant negative impact on the educational programs at Madison while also taxing our general fund budget.”
Beth Lykins, treasurer of Shelby City Schools, said the district receives about $125,000 from the three Title grants that have been put on pause.
Lykins said Shelby won’t have to eliminate programs if funds aren’t received, but the pause does impact planning for the upcoming school year.
“The last email received from (the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce) stated, ‘Until (the U.S. Department of Education) provides further communication regarding the availability of these program funds, (schools) should “pause” efforts to budget and plan for the programs,” Lykins shared via email.
What are Title funds for?
Title funds are federal dollars designated for specific purposes. Not all Title funds have been withheld.
Title I and IDEA funds, which focus on high poverty schools and students with disabilities, have not been affected.
Funds being withheld include Title II-A, Title III-A and Title IV-A.
Title II-A: professional development for teachers
Mansfield City uses Title II-A funds to pay for mandatory training in the Science of Reading training for Title I reading teachers, who help kids catch up with their peers.
While Title I funds aren’t being held back, they can only be used for paying teachers, not for training them, Christie said.
Mansfield also uses Title II funds to pay for curriculum consultants, who help insure curriculum is property implemented.
Madison utilizes Title II-A funds to assist with reducing the class size in an elementary building.
Peterson said it’s too late to reduce the number of teachers for the upcoming school year, but it could be a possibility for the 2026-2027 school year if Title II-A funding isn’t approved.
“We would have to cover the cost of the teacher through general fund monies, which were not budgeted to do,” he said.
Title III-A: language instruction for English learners and immigrant students
Title III-A funds are specifically for English language instruction for immigrant students and other students whose first language isn’t English. Specifically, they might pay for extra tutoring or training for teachers who have English learners in their classroom.
“We don’t get a whole lot (of Title III-A funds). We have about 35 students identified as learning English at this time,” Christie said.
Madison received less than $150 in Title III-A funds, Peterson said. While it wouldn’t be a significant financial hit, it would directly impact English learners.
Title IV-A: Students support and enrichment
Christie said the potential loss or reduction in Title IV-A funds is the part that troubles her the most.
The district uses these “student support and enrichment” funds to invest professional development for art, music and physical education teachers.
They’ve paid for the district’s orchestra instructors to offer after school lessons. They sent one orchestra instructor to a workshop where she learned how to repair instruments.
“She was blown away by what that helped to do in her day-to-day work,” Christie said. “It’s getting to hone their craft. Every job needs opportunities to hone their craft.”
Title IV-A funding has also bolstered the school’s PBIS program and paid for training on how to work with students experiencing trauma.
The funds cover the software Mansfield City uses to see data on student behavior, attendance and grades all in one place.
Christie said the software is an “early warning system” that helps educators identify patterns and spot potential problems at the building, classroom and even individual student level.
Last school year, Madison used its funds for staff development, purchasing classroom and curriculum materials, contracting with mental health service providers and contracting with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department for the services of a School Resource Officer.
“The staff training and professional development opportunities that Title IV funds provide at Madison would be extremely difficult to replace,” Peterson said.
“The in-services provided for staff in curriculum and classroom strategies are designed to improve their instruction. These funds also make mental and social/emotional services readily available for our students who need and depend on these supports. Losing these supports would be detrimental for our students.”
Why are funds being withheld?
A notice sent out July 2 by the state education department informed schools the U.S. Department of Education is conducting a “comprehensive review of several federal programs” and won’t be issuing grant award notifications until that is complete.
The notice included a statement from the federal department, citing the “change in Administrations.”
“The Department remains committed to ensuring taxpayer rouses are spent in accordance with the President’s priorities and Department’s statutory responsibilities,” the statement read.
News outlets including Axios, PBS and The Hill have cited a spokesperson from the White House Office of Management and Budget who said initial findings show “many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical left-wing agenda.”
On Monday, a coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in an effort to force the release of the funds.
The suit states the federal government is required by law to make the funds available to States to distribute on July 1 and claims the withholding them is unconstitutional, since the funds were appropriated by Congress.
Christie said she’s hopeful that the funds will be released eventually.
“They’re forward-funded. These funds were already approved. That’s why I’m like, ‘Maybe, they’ll return them to us,'” she said.