The Trump administration’s recent freeze of more than $6 billion in congressionally-approved education grants might translate to additional cuts for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District.
Fairbanks district officials say, if the paused grants aren’t reinstated, the financial impact for local schools could range between $3 and $4 million dollars.
Schools across the country had been expecting the funding to be distributed by July 1.
Superintendent Luke Meinert said by email Thursday that the district has carryover funds that can help sustain existing programs and services until September.
But he wrote that, “If the federal funding is not restored, the consequences for our district will be significant.”
Those consequences could include cutting grant-funded afterschool academic support, migrant education tutoring and social services managers, among other things.
The district currently has 35 full time and 170 temporary grant-funded positions, according to Meinert.
In late June, the school district’s board of education passed the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The monthslong process shuttered local schools, contracted out custodial services, laid off staff and increased class sizes in order to overcome a projected $16 million budget deficit.
School Board President Melissa Burnett says she hopes the frozen grants won’t require cracking open the approved budget to slash more programs and staff.
“It’s a waiting game at the moment of what this looks like, and we’re just really holding onto hopes that, at some point, this is going to be reinstated so it’s not such an impact on us,” she said.
State education funding remains a point of contention due to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s line item vetoes, which reduced district revenues from the state by an estimated $4.5 million. School board members signaled in June that they’d rather spend from district savings than approve further cuts if state lawmakers fail to override the veto.
So Burnett says losing the federal grants would likely mean carving from a budget the board already considers gutted.
“It’s frustration at the state level, frustration at the federal level, and to have to come back and do this again – I’m lost. I’m lost on where we go and what we do from here,” she said.
There’s still uncertainty about the grants’ future, and the federal government could choose to restore the funding after its review.
In the meantime, Meinert said the district is taking precautionary measures, such as pausing hiring for some vacancies and looking into transferring grant-funded roles into open district positions.