Fairfax County Public Schools has received millions in federal funding that was held up for nearly a month by the Trump administration.
FCPS spokesperson Julie Allen told FFXnow yesterday (Wednesday) that the school division has confirmed receipt of the $13.1 million in withheld funding.
It was part of approximately $5 billion that the U.S. Department of Education refused to release to schools nationwide on July 1 as anticipated. Virginia’s share was about $123 million.
Federal education officials said the delay was to determine whether the funding, which had been appropriated by Congress, comported with priorities of the Trump administration.
A coalition of 24 states and D.C. promptly sued the administration, saying it had “engaged in this conduct without any statutory or constitutional authority.”
“Not only does Congress require that defendants make funds available … [it] also directs the timing of when those funds should be made available,” the suit alleged.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, did not join the suit, which effectively was rendered moot when the Department of Education released the funds on July 25 under pressure from a bipartisan coalition of congressional lawmakers.
Nearly half the $5 billion will be used to underwrite professional development programs for educators. The remainder supports a variety of programs for both K-12 and adult-education initiatives.
Fairfax school leaders are counting on about $50 million in direct federal funding this fiscal year. While that represents just 1.2% of a budget of $4 billion, the school system’s current challenging fiscal environment leaves little margin for error.
FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid told the school board on July 10 that the frozen grants would provide critical support for multilingual students, including a program that assists migrant children, WTOP reported.
“We’re hopeful that the freeze will be unfrozen or that the freeze will thaw and that the monies will continue to come because the programs are so very important,” she said at that meeting.
Fairfax school leaders weren’t the only ones watching the federal funding situation carefully over the past month. Some Northern Virginia school officials fear they may not be out of the woods just yet.
In neighboring Arlington, where $1.5 million in federal funding was unfrozen, school leaders are most concerned about the possibility of major cuts to federal funding for Title I schools, which have a large percentage of students from lower-income and at-risk households, and for special education.
If those cuts materialize, “that will be a major, major issue,” Arlington Superintendent Francisco Durán told that county’s school board on July 24.
