Simplified: Sioux Falls schools are facing a potential $3.5 million shortfall after the Trump administration late last month announced plans to withhold nearly $7 billion in education funding nationally.

Why it matters

  • The withheld funds – which, as Chalkbeat reports, were approved by Congress earlier this year – are intended to support migrant education, English language acquisition, student enrichment, support for teachers and literacy programs, according to Elizabeth Herrboldt, the Sioux Falls School District's director of federal programs.
  • These frozen federal funds come at a time when the district is already tightening its belt. The district cut $3 million in expenses for the coming budget, and there are plans to make similar cuts again next year as state funding for education lags behind what's promised by state law.
    • If the federal funds aren't unfrozen, it's likely going to result in layoffs, Superintendent Jamie Nold indicated to board members during Monday night's meeting.
  • Board Member Dawn Marie Johnson called the federal funding freeze an "attack on public schools," and noted this is yet another setback for the district which educates about four of every five kids in the city.
"It's going to hurt this city if these (cuts) continue to go like this," Johnson said.

Tell me more about the funding freeze

Not all federal funding is impacted. The district is still expecting to receive about $8.7 million in federal funds to support students from low-income families, as well as students described as "neglected and delinquent."

What's not so certain, though, is funding to support instructional coaches and professional development for teachers through Title II Part A.

  • That could impact about 12 full-time instructional coaching positions, as well as ongoing staff training.

Additionally, Title IV funds are currently frozen, including funding for a teacher focused solely on reading intervention, two-way Spanish immersion teachers, school success coordinators and behavior facilitators.

  • In total, those funds could impact another dozen full-time employees of the district.

What happens next?

For now, the district is going to keep moving forward, Nold said. He noted that the district has been in contact with the state's delegation in Washington D.C.

"Our intention is to continue to move forward," Nold said, "because many of those staff have been hired. (The district will continue) to work through that process and hope that it does work the way it should and hope for the benefit of the students that it does become unfrozen."