By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
Lincoln County School District was prepared to lose more than $850,000 when the Trump Administration withheld congressionally-approved education grants. Now, the funds have been restored, ensuring that after-school programs, support for English language learners, and teacher training can continue.
The U.S. Department of Education sent a message June 30 to school districts across the country warning that $6 billion for five federal programs was undergoing further review “in accordance with the President’s priorities.” The message came a day before school districts expected to receive the funds for the following year and at the end of Oregon’s deadline for school boards to approve their 2025-26 budgets.
The Lincoln County School District had already approved its budget, expecting to receive $856,000 for various programs in the upcoming school year, business services director Kim Cusick told the Lincoln Chronicle.
The sudden whiplash put school districts in a state of uncertainty as they made plans to receive funding, then heard they may not get it at all and made additional plans, only to have to pivot again.
Still, school officials say it’s a relief to hear the funds will go through after all.
“Without this funding, we would have had to significantly scale back teacher training, afterschool programs, and language support services for students,” said Sandy Mummey, the district’s director of elementary education.
The district has $450,000 budgeted for after-school programs in its schools across the county. In these programs, students engage in science technology engineering, arts and math activities, receive tutoring in core academic subjects, and are provided meals.
“These services are especially important for students who may face barriers to learning outside the school day,” Mummey said.
There is also $100,000 that will go towards academic enrichment, such as the use of technology to encourage digital literacy.
The school district also receives $51,000 for English learners. The funds are used to train classroom teachers and specialists to integrate language development into instruction. The money also helps support parent engagement with family education nights and are used to send students to the annual César Chávez Student Leadership Conference at Western Oregon University, an event that aims to empower multilingual students by building leadership and celebrating culture.
The Trump Administration also stalled more than $280,000 earmarked for teachers’ professional development. This program mainly focuses on training teachers in reading strategies, Mummey said.
For the 2025-26 school year, targeted training allows each elementary school have a team of teachers trained in explicit reading strategies that then provide coaching and mentorship to new educators and ongoing support to staff. The funding also helps teachers learn how to assess students and better match their needs with research-based strategies to build strong reading skills, Mummey said.
If the district didn’t get the $856,000, Mummey said it would have had to scale back professional development for teachers, limit after-school programs for students, reduce family engagement for English learners, and eliminate student participation in the César Chávez conference.
“The restoration of these funds means that we can continue to provide additional reading support, English language acquisition support, and after school programs for our students, as well as ongoing professional development for our staff,” Cusack said.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
Well, it looks like President Trump honored his commitment that the previous administration made. Thank you for that. It looks like soon the state will be making the decision where school funding is budgeted and whom shall receive it. Let’s hope the money doesn’t get poured into the states general fund where it likely will be swallowed up for the homeless.
As Tupac so eloquently said many years ago: “They got money for War but can’t feed the Poor.”
Playing political games with education funding while ballooning the “Offense” Budget to over 1 Trillion. All of this from the party that espouses restoring family values while ignoring the benefits that after school programs play for working families with children of all ages.