Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne issued a statement today sharing the news that the U.S. Department of Education will be releasing grant funding that was paused for review.
Initially, the Education Department had sent two notices on Monday, June 30 to states that it would be withholding funds for the following title programs: Migrant Education (Title I-C), Supporting Effective Instruction (Title II), English Language Acquisition (Title III), Student Support and Academic Enrichment (Title IV-A), 21st Century Community Learning Centers (Title IV, Part B), and adult education.
On Friday, July 18, Horne's office announced that the review for 21CCLC, or before- and after-school programming, had ended and the funds would soon be released.
Now that the funds for all remaining programs are expected to release, Horne stated that "the Arizona Department of Education staff will work very hard to disburse these funds as soon as possible."
Horne's statement from July 18, however, did include a link to a video from July 9 sharing his position on federal funding delays. In it, he said the pause isn't a freeze.
"There is not a freeze," Horne said. "The federal government is just studying it, um, and they made it clear specifically that no decision has been made to freeze. Once they study it, they'll make their decision. They say that in the studies they've done, they've seen instances of far-left ideology being taught to students, and I would agree that that should not be."
Later, an interviewer off-screen commented, "And in the grand scheme of things, we are talking about a fairly small amount of money in federal terms."
Horne agreed.
"Yes," he said. "Uh, first of all, most schools have money that they'd already gotten that they hadn't spent yet in these particular areas and, and they can spend it in some cases until September of 2026. If they don't have it, they can adjust their budgets because we're talking about less than 1% of the schools' budgets. So if there's something that where there actually is a freeze for a particular program they put a high priority on, they can reallocate their own funds. So, um, it's not going to be a terrible catastrophe either way."
ADE's communication today noted that the total amount withheld under review was "approximately $124 million, or about one percent of overall school funding in Arizona." This figure is likely what Horne was referring to when he said "we're talking about less than 1%" of schools' budgets. But this isn't necessarily the case for each district.
KAWC reached out to a few districts this week to inquire whether Horne's statements lined up with their experiences, and their responses highlighted the disruption that withholding funds so close to the beginning of the new school year has caused.
“The most challenging part of this process has been the lack of notice provided," said Crane School District CFO Dale Ponder. "The district was expected to receive these funds on July 1st and did not receive timely notification of the impoundment until June 30th. Because of this, the district had to shift its focus to reviewing various budgets and funding sources that were previously believed to be secure and evaluate our options.
"I wouldn’t consider the process to be easy. However, we remain committed to prioritizing our needs to ensure that students would not be negatively impacted by these delays, and we could maintain the staff that is expected when school resumes on Monday, July 28th.”
Ponder shared on Thursday, July 24, that with the exception of 21CCLC grant money, Crane was still expecting $800K in withheld funds, or 1.8% of its anticipated general budget limit.
"However, I would not consider $800,000 to be a small amount," he added. "For perspective, for the past 7 years, the voters in our district have graciously supported an annual override for district additional assistance (capital) of $1.5 million, which has significantly aided in the district’s goals for increased safety and security infrastructure, refreshed technology, and improved transportation equipment and vehicles. While the $1.5 million is equivalent to 3.8% of our district’s revenue control limit, I would not consider either of these to be small amounts as they significantly impact our operations."
Horne's video statements were made before the release of 21CCLC funds were announced. When factoring in ADE's estimated fiscal year 2026 21CCLC award amounts for Crane, that percentage jumps up to nearly 3.2%.
At Yuma Elementary School District One, Superintendent Denis Ponder, said the total amount of withheld funds, including 21CCLC money, amounted to 4-5% of the district's budget.
"... For us individually, it would represent a little bit larger amount of money that we would have to absorb within our budget if we were to, say, we're going to take all the programs, all the everything that's currently funded through those grants and absorb them somehow into our budget," he said. "That would be somewhere between 4 and 5% for us. So a decent chunk of money, you know, something to consider and think about getting that, really.
"At least the before and after school program money released was, was really awesome for us. I haven't seen exactly when or how that's going to play out yet. But, you know, we know that that's coming. That has a huge impact on our community as well, so those families can have that place for their kids to be before and after school as they're going to work or getting off of work. They have some of those options, and it also gives us a chance to provide some additional learning opportunities or just experiences for our kids."
Even for a district as large as District One, which is the largest elementary district in Yuma and La Paz counties, Superintendent Ponder expressed the money they were still waiting on is still important.
"It's definitely a chunk of money that we have to look at and be intentional about and understand," he said. "So we've already had some conversations internally kind of that above the line, below the line conversations. So if the money doesn't come in at all, here's what we're planning or here's what we're prepared to do. If some of the money comes in but it's cut, then we look at how much was cut and then we see how that impacts each area and make those decisions there.
"And then, of course, if all the money is released, we get to continue business as usual type of thing."
In some districts, the percentage may be even more significant.
"Overall in a typical year, federal grant dollars not including Impact Aid, would be approximately 10-12% of our expenditures, not 1%.," Parker Unified School District Superintendent Brad Sale said.
This includes more than just the recently withheld funds: Title I, Title II, Title IV, Title VI and Perkins.
"I agree that any loss of federal grant dollars is a loss," he said.
For some small districts, the delay in funds has already had an impact. Wellton Elementary School District Superintendent and Principal Lisa Jameson shared that she hasn't been able to fill two positions she's really needed to fill.
"I’m thrilled to hear the report that the money is supposed to be released," she told KAWC today. "If we do receive the grant funding, I would be able to start looking to hire for two positions. School starts Tuesday and we are definitely understaffed. Although we’re prepared to start, it’s because the staff we have is working very hard to make sure our students have a good year. To be able to hire additional staff will help relieve some of the pressure for the current employees."
When Jameson interviewed with KAWC Tuesday, she was asked whether the withheld funds were a fairly small amount like the ADE video suggested.
"In terms of our total budget, is it a lot of money compared to that? No, but it's a lot of money because, usually like once school starts, then we start to realize our additional needs on top of just our regular needs, and especially with Title II, Title II paid for professional development and that needs to be ongoing for teachers," she said.
One example she provided was AI, which is new to a lot of teachers, including herself. She explained that their students are experimenting with that and having Title II and Title IV funding allows the district to do extra things that their students need and that students in larger districts may already be doing.
"My teachers work very hard and they're doing very well, but in small schools especially with , you know, a rural school like ours, every little bit of money extra than our just regular M&O (maintenance and operations) money allows us, what I think, just to be a little bit better to provide the extras.
"Sometimes that extra is an additional person which makes all the difference. Right now we have increasing enrollment, and I really need to hire two teachers. The extra funding would help, but like Title II, you can also use it to reduce class size. You know, I have instructional aides but trying to get teachers to come out to Wellton, it's been difficult. We've raised our salary schedule and everything."
For districts like Wellton, every cent matters.
"... When they say it's not a lot of money, it is a lot of money to us," she said. "It makes the difference, whether it's in terms of, you know, being able to attract the science teacher because we have these microscopes and we have a science room—which, by the way, we don't—but it just helps provide the extras.
"So when you take away, you know, essentially $40,000, you have impacted us because we were depending on that, and, you know, with budgets you always plan in advance."
Jameson commented that when the recent hits to public education started happening, she was skeptical and ensured Wellton Elementary was as frugal as possible.
"But it's just disappointing," she said. "Teachers work so hard, and to not have public schools funded the way they need to be—I think education is so important because it's our future. Personally, I feel it's more important than immigration; I know that's so political, but I don't know. Right now, it's just so frustrating. I really need an additional person—I need two—and [I'm] not able to get them at this time."
Now that the remaining funds are expected to release, Jameson should be able to start the process on filling those positions, but the delay has meant Wellton's starting the new school year this Tuesday understaffed.
And yet, Wellton and other schools persist. In the midst of a very busy week preparing for the new school year, Jameson concluded that, "We're really looking forward to this year. We, you know, we put aside the money part. The people who are here—we'll make it. We'll make it work. It will be a successful year."
This reporting is supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation.
