WASHINGTON COUNTY, Utah — Federal funds that had been frozen for school districts like Washington County have now been freed up, which is good because, a month before the school year, the business administrator for the county’s school district had no idea where funding would come for some programs.
"We weren't sure what was going on. State office wasn't sure what was going on," admitted Washington County School District Business Administrator Brent Bills.
Early last month, the Trump administration announced it was freezing $5 billion in funds for K-12 school districts that had already been allocated by Congress. The White House said that an initial review found grant funds were being used to "subsidize a radical agenda.”
While the funds were mainly for after-school programs in other districts around the state, Bills said those weren’t the programs most affected in his community.
"What we use that for is having smaller class sizes so that students can have more one-on-one time with teachers," he explained. "We have about 10, 11 teachers, and our elementary schools are funded using that funding."
English as a Second Language and arts programs for elementary schools were also frozen. In total, Bills said $1.9 million was in limbo.
National News
Tracking Trump's college funding freezes
Last week, the Department of Education said it had completed a review and was set to release the funds by this week. Bills confirmed with FOX 13 News that by Monday, those funds had been received by Washington County.
While he said the freeze caused uncertainty and stress for himself and the district, Bills doesn’t blame the federal government.
"Well, that's the way it works," he shared. "With the large bill that just passed, that they're calling the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' they were to keep the tax cuts in place. And as they looked at places they could cut funding, this was one of the places that took a haircut. I'm not going to look at it and say it's unfair. I'm not going to look at it and say, 'Well, we're getting lumped in with anybody else.' It is what it is."
The White House is now advocating that funding for all programs next year go from $8 billion to just $2 billion.
"Our bigger concern is we don't know what's going to happen for the 26-27 school year," Bills said. "If we did lose 75% of the money, it would be about $1.4 million."
If the cuts come, Bills is confident the district can find that money from other sources.
"I mean, that's what we do," he said. "That's why I say the nervousness is not knowing. But when it actually comes and we know what it is, we will adjust."
