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Boston Globe
03-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
The Trump administration took away unspent relief funds from Mass. districts. Here's how much each lost.
'A school-based health center is long overdue in this region,' O'Leary said. 'We're going to have to review if we're going to execute the final contract.' Related : Advertisement Similar projects could be in jeopardy around the state, particularly in districts like Springfield, Fitchburg, and Everett, which are losing around 20 percent of their total relief fund allocations. Here's what to know. Advertisement Which districts were affected? Including New Bedford, a total of 20 school districts will lose their remaining federal funds unless, as district leaders hope, the cuts are reversed. In Springfield, the biggest loser — with nearly $50 million on the line — money was going to HVAC installations and outdoor classrooms. It's unclear how much of that work was completed. Fitchburg, with one-quarter of its $26 million in federal funds on the line, was planning to spend its money on HVAC and air quality improvements, The primary deadline to use the funds was Sept. 30, and the vast majority have been spent. But districts were 'By failing to meet the clear deadline in the regulation, you ran the risk that the Department would deny your extension request,' McMahon wrote. 'Extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department's priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion.' Related : How much did each affected district have left? Springfield: Lost $47 million, or 19% of their $244 million total allocation of ESSER funds. New Bedford: Lost $16 million, or 21% of their $74 million total Fitchburg: Lost $6.6 million, or 25% of their $26 million Everett: Lost $4.9 million, or 23% of their $21 million Revere: Lost $4.6 million, or 15% of their $30 million Boston: Lost $3.5 million, or 0.8% of their $432 million Leominster: Lost $1.9 million, or 10.7% of their $17 million Stoughton: Lost $1.5 million, or 25% of their $5.9 million Worcester: Lost $1.5 million, or 1.2% of their $123 million Chelsea: Lost $1.4 million, or 4.5% of their $33 million Lawrence: Lost $1.3 million, or 1.6% of their $85 million Holyoke: Lost $400,000, or 0.7% of their $58 million. Dracut: Lost $650,000, or 12.1% of their $5.4 million West Springfield: Lost $350,000, or 2.3% of their $15 million Lynn: Lost $340,000, or 0.52% of their $66 million Fairhaven: Lost $250,000, or 6.1% of their $4.1 million Greater Fall River Regional Vocational Technical: Lost $120,000, or 2.5% of their $4.6 million Ludlow: Lost $83,000, or 1.7% of their $4.9 million Blue Hills: Lost $21,000, or 1.6% of their $1.3 million Mashpee: Lost $2,500, or 0.11% of their $2.3 million Other impacted school funding Two private religious schools also lost funds due to similar cuts to the separate 'Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools' program in the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act. Mater Dolorosa Catholic School, Holyoke: Lost $120,000, or 15% of their $780,000 American Rescue Plan Act allocation. Saint Stanislaus School, Chicopee: Lost $173,000, or 13% of their $1.3 million allocation. According to the state, a total of $106 million in relief funds were terminated. The above schools and districts combine for about $93 million in lost funds, meaning about $13 million in unspent funds were due to other agencies, such as the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Advertisement Federal money was supporting teacher training and regional centers that help teachers with emergency licenses get needed certification to continue working in Massachusetts public schools, the state said. Christopher Huffaker can be reached at
Boston Globe
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump administration cuts $106M in unspent COVID relief from Mass. schools
Just two districts account for the majority of the unspent funds: Springfield, with $47.4 million remaining, and New Bedford, with $15.6 million. Eighteen other districts were affected, including Fitchburg, Everett, Revere, and Boston. It's not immediately clear what particular plans were affected in each district. Advertisement The funds largely went to high-poverty districts like the Gateway Cities, and those districts also have the bulk of the unspent funds. The primary deadline to spend use the funds was Sept. 30, and the vast majority have been spent. But districts were 'By failing to meet the clear deadline in the regulation, you ran the risk that the Department would deny your extension request,' Advertisement The terminated funds are estimated to affect more than $2 billion across the country. But they're limited to certain types of spending, with districts already Related : 'At a time when students are still struggling to recover from the pandemic, we need to be doing everything we can to address learning loss and the youth mental health crisis,' Healey said in a statement. 'Instead, President Trump suddenly ripped away more than $100 million in funding that is supposed to go right to Massachusetts students and schools.' But the Education Department will still consider extensions for individual projects, according to the letter. Projects affected by the termination in Massachusetts include mental health supports, math tutoring, and school security and air quality improvements, according to the state news release. Two private religious schools, Holyoke's Mater Dolorosa and Chicopee's Saint Stanislaus, were also affected by cuts to a separate 'Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools' program. Funds for state-backed teacher training were also terminated. 'We are not back yet from the pandemic. We know that many students in Massachusetts and across the country are still experiencing pandemic-related learning loss and mental health challenges,' said Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler in a statement. 'The Trump administration's outrageous and cruel decision, in which we received notice of a new arbitrary deadline, will have real harm to our students and their learning and wellbeing.' Advertisement Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, called the decision an 'act of educational sabotage' in a separate news release. 'These are dollars that were already in the pipeline — funds our schools were depending on for mental health supports, tutoring, clean air in classrooms, and school safety upgrades,' Rodrigues said. 'Stripping these away with no warning isn't just bad policy — it's an all-out assault on the future of our kids.' The loss of residual funds could worsen the budget crunches One-fifth of the primary funding source, the American Rescue Plan Act, had to be spent on academic recovery, while the rest was largely unrestricted. Because it was one-time funds, Springfield Public Schools, which is losing the most money, was allocated nearly $250 million in relief funds, Four of the affected districts — Dracut, West Springfield, Fall River, and Ludlow — voted for Trump in the 2024 election. The other 16 voted for Harris. Advertisement Christopher Huffaker can be reached at
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘Least restrictive environment:' San Francisco schools strengthening special education services
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — San Francisco Unified School District officials said they are taking steps to strengthen its systems and structures for serving students who receive Special Education services. Special Education services are bound by state and federal mandates to ensure students eligible for special education have 'meaningful access to general education in the least restrictive environment to meet their unique needs,' district officials wrote. While SFUSD has experienced trends of declining enrollment in the past five years, Special Education enrollment has increased. In 2023-24, nearly 14% of SFUSD's 49,000 students in TK-12th grades were identified as requiring Special Education services. SFUSD is both a school district and a county office of education. SFUSD employs nearly 500 teachers and over 1,300 paraeducators who work directly with students receiving Special Education services. The Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) conducted a review of the public school district's special education services in fall 2024 by interviewing key SFUSD staff and evaluating SFUSD's SpEd procedures, data and processes. Based off FCMAT's review of special education services within the district, SFUSD is implementing several action items, including: Increasing Accountability and Oversight 'SFUSD will be working to further define the distinction between district and county programming, with a specific emphasis on strengthening strategies and programming for students who have more extensive support needs, such as those in Special Day Classes (SDC) or county-level services. SFUSD's goal is to better address these students' needs within our schools and transition students back from Non-Public Schools (NPS) whenever possible,' district officials wrote. Hiring and Retaining Special Education Staff 'For the first time in recent memory, SFUSD is preparing to post positions for occupational and physical therapists, aiming to hire directly for roles that have primarily been filled through contracted services. Additionally, SFUSD is organizing hiring fairs, recruitment events and pursuing a supplemental grant for the Urban Teacher Residency Program, with a specific focus on Special Education teacher credentials,' SFUSD officials wrote. Bay Area elementary schools make 2025 California Distinguished list Strengthening the Continuum of Special Education Services District officials wrote, 'Through cross-departmental efforts, SFUSD is working to address the significant disproportionality of African American students referred for Special Education services. SFUSD highlighted the need to strengthen site- level tiers of support, Student Success Team structures, and interventions that are already in place across schools within general education.' Improving Data Systems 'SFUSD is focused on improving data systems to better inform decision-making and planning. As a result of this process, the team is beginning to organize more accurate, robust, usable data sets related to programming, staffing, caseloads, class sizes, and other data sets that were previously challenging to access,' district officials wrote. FCMAT and SFUSD will discuss the report at the April 8 Board of Education meeting. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
