05-03-2025
School leaders hope federal funding survives any Dept. of Ed changes
ERWIN, Tenn. (WJHL) — Shealan Renfro, Justin Clouse and Jesse Adkins gathered around their transition to work teacher, Kelly Price and job coach Darlene Wall Tuesday morning at Unicoi County High School, eager to do their part preparing snacks at the school's 'Pitchfork Cafe.'
Seniors Renfro and Clouse and Adkins, a junior, receive significant support through federal Department of Education funding — funding their teachers and Unicoi County Schools administrators hope will survive any pending changes at the department.
'We couldn't function properly without the funding from the federal government,' the system's special education supervisor, Amy Horton, told News Channel 11 Tuesday.
'That money goes to pay for teacher salaries, our assistants, busing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, all of those related services for students with IEPs.'
Horton is talking about individualized education plans — documents that guide services for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 50 years ago.
Like Title I money serving low-income schools and school nutrition programs, IDEA funds currently flow from the U.S. Department of Education to individual states, then out to individual districts. Horton, Unicoi County Director of Schools John English and Federal Programs Director Mike Riddell all say they're waiting to see what approach just-confirmed Education Secretary Linda McMahon takes.
Tuesday, her first official day on the job, McMahon spoke of a 'historic overhaul' at a department that has long drawn criticism from conservatives for, among other things, wresting control of education from states and localities.
'We're all for control back to the states, local control,' English said. 'We can't afford to lose the funding that is essential for the services that those kids need, program staffing. So that's the piece that kind of has us concerned is, 'what's it going to look like from a funding standpoint?''
Along with playing a crucial role in funding for students with special needs, federal money helps schools with significant percentages of low-income students, Riddell said. About $900,000 is helping every Unicoi County school except the high school this year to hire interventionists and instructional assistants, purchase equipment and supplies, provide software for math and English/language arts, and boost parent involvement.
Riddell said the funding is 'extremely effective' in helping student performance and well-being in Title I schools — and it's ubiquitous in a place like Unicoi County. 'It has affected thousands of students just in our district.'
In the Pitchfork Cafe, with its small ratio of staff to students, Renfro talks about her job at a local florist and her plans for life after high school. It's the kind of future that was a lot less likely before IDEA and the changes it brought to not just families, but communities, Horton said.
'I think that the students and families and just communities are stronger because of the provisions of IDEA,' she said. 'Students are able to go into normal classrooms. They are able to get access to tier one instruction just like their peers, and to socialize with peers and to be successful community members.'
She, Riddell and English are all cautiously hopeful that changes at the federal level will fall more on the side of reduced bureaucracy and less on the side of depleted funding. McMahon has said that even if the department is abolished — something that would require Congressional approval — funding to the groups that get it now could continue under other federal departments.
'My hope of restructuring of the Department of Education (is that it) would actually be beneficial to us cutting some of that red tape, some of the restrictions and requirements for those funds and giving that to the state and then to the local education agencies,' she said.
One example, she said, is the difficulty smaller school systems often have qualifying for certain grants — and the heavy administrative burden many of those funding opportunities include.
Riddell agreed.
'If you cut waste and fraud across the government, then potentially if they keep the budget level and don't cut it, then there's potential to get even more money for those programs if it's handled appropriately and effectively and efficiently,' he said.
Riddell said he and colleagues from other districts got some guidance from state authorities recently. They said any potential changes to federally funded K-12 programs would become clearer four to six weeks after the March 14 deadline for budget passage.
Horton said they're 'anxiously awaiting the decisions that are going to come our way.'
If those decisions include any significant level of funding cuts, 'it would be catastrophic.
'We would not be able to employ the teachers that we have, the interventionists that we have to support student reading and mathematics in the early grades, pre-K, for students with disabilities. We would not be able to provide the instructional materials that our students need in the high school, and middle school assistance that support students going from class to class and helping them in small groups.'
Whatever the future brings, though, Horton said she's confident of one thing.
'In my 25 years, teachers always make a way for their students,' she said. 'And I don't foresee the funding going anywhere. Those provisions to support students with disabilities are so impactful for our kids and I do not believe that that is going anywhere.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
