The U.S. Department of Education is withholding an estimated $25 million in grant funding from Maine public schools "to ensure resources are spent in accordance with the President's priorities." The funds are part of a more than $6 billion freeze across the United States.
The withheld money is used for six grant programs supporting teacher development, adult literacy, after-school programs, and more.
Ezekiel Kimball, education policy expert and interim dean at the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development, said this pause comes at a particularly difficult time for district leaders.
"This is happening as school districts believed that they were finalizing plans and as they're making plans for hiring and curriculum and things along those lines for the upcoming school year, so this throws some of that into doubt," Kimball said.
Ezekiel Kimball said he is concerned about the stress this will put on already underfunded districts.
"It doesn't necessarily eliminate the obligation that school districts either have by statute or by expectation to deliver these sorts of programs," Kimball said.
Funding is typically allocated in the spring to accommodate school budget processes and with this delay will prevent school districts from finalizing their budgets by the beginning of their fiscal year, according to a statement from the Maine Department of Education.
The agency is urging Maine's congressional delegation to request the fund be released as soon as possible.
Kimball said summer programming should be okay as it is often funded by last years' budget but is concerned about how this will affect schools come fall.
