In the wake of thousands of dollars of federal grants for schools in Franklin County being frozen in June and then released in late July, local districts were forced to strategically plan for how to cope with missing funds, some of which have yet to be deposited.
This freeze by the U.S. Department of Education started June 30, withholding $6.8 billion for federally funded programs for migrant education under Title I-C, professional development under Title II-A, English-learner support under Title III-A, academic enrichment under Title IV-A, and before-school and after-school programs under Title IV-B, known as the 21st Century Learning Centers Grant, according to EducationWeek.
The funding freeze was initiated so the department could review these allocations, and the decision to release the grants was announced on July 25. However, Title IV-B funding was released at an earlier date due to bipartisan pushback led by Republicans. Congress had allocated $1 billion for before-school and after-school programs.
Massachusetts had $107 million in federal funding frozen, and in response, the state joined 23 other states in a lawsuit against the Department of Education.
For local schools, the funding freeze came on the cusp of the new fiscal year on July 1.
At the Gill-Montague Regional School District, $74,000 in federal funding was frozen. According to interim Superintendent Tari Thomas, Gill-Montague’s frozen funds included $40,000 under Title II-A for professional development , $9,000 under Title III-A for English-learner support and $25,000 under Title IV-A for academic enrichment. In response, the district planned to look at other areas of its budget to see where it could pull money from, including other grant allocations that had money left.
Due to the possibility that the federal funding wouldn’t be released, Thomas’ July 23 letter to the community explained that staff members whose positions are funded “in whole or in part” by federal dollars were given a notice on their contracts for the 2025-2026 school year. The notice states, “This position may be modified or discontinued at the sole discretion of the district.”
Thomas confirmed this was a precautionary measure developed with guidance from legal counsel before the June 30 grant freeze, given the uncertain landscape of federal funding.
Come Monday, July 28, however, Thomas was able to provide an update on the frozen funds, telling district families and community members the “good news” in a message on the district website that the funds were expected to be released in the coming weeks. As of Wednesday, Thomas said, the district is still waiting for the money to be deposited.
Outside of Gill-Montague, other regional school districts also had their grants frozen. Pioneer Valley Regional School District Superintendent Patricia Kinsella confirmed $13,500 in Title II-A money for professional development was frozen.
“Had we lost the money, we would have had to find money in the budget, which would have meant cuts,” Kinsella said.
Similarly, the Ralph C. Mahar Regional and Union 73 school districts saw their funding frozen in Title II-A and Title IV-B grants, for professional development and after-school programs, respectively. Neither of these grants have been deposited for the districts’ use at this time. Between Title II-A and Title IV-B, Fisher Hill Elementary School had a total of $35,000 frozen and Ralph C. Mahar Regional School had $44,000 frozen.
Superintendent Elizabeth Zielinski said this freeze on funds that were allocated to the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES), which provides after-school programming, meant the school district continued running the program with its own money. Additionally, there is concern over professional development days for staff during school breaks in February and April, which Title-II is used for.
“This on-and-off again affects our grant accounts and general funds,” Zielinski said, noting how funding for after-school programming came from the general fund, which required reworking the education budget that was approved at Annual Town Meetings.
Zielinski pointed out just how disruptive the freezing of these grants is for schools that are attempting to onboard new staff before the end of the school year, establish their budgets for the coming fiscal year in the spring and close out financials before July 1. She said people don’t typically see how busy schools are in the summer, and juggling uncertainty within the federal government and its impact on schools adds further strain.
The Mohawk Trail Regional School District is also a recipient of federal dollars. Mohawk Trail School Committee Chair Martha Thurber said the district was expecting to receive $780,000 in federal aid across multiple grant programs, and had its $27,915 in Title II-A professional development funds and $6,925 in Title IV-A academic enrichment funds withheld. Similar to other schools, there is still an unknown on when the money may come through.
“As far as we know now, they’re supposed to be released by the end of the calendar year,” Thurber said about when the district could expect the funds, “but who knows?”
