By: Michael Achterling (ND Monitor)
Frozen federal grants are putting North Dakota after-school programs in limbo, pausing teacher training and leaving schools scrambling, education officials said this week.
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget withheld $6.8 billion in federal education grants for the upcoming school year for further review. The total withheld for North Dakota is estimated to be about $25.4 million, based on what the state received in 2024, according to the state Department of Public Instruction. That represents about 15% of what the state receives annually in K-12 funding from the U.S. Department of Education, according to the Learning Policy Institute.
About $6.5 million that has been withheld for North Dakota was for 21st Century Community Learning, which supports programs held before and after school.
“We are all in limbo,” said Robin Nelson, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of the Red River Valley.
About 109 after-school programs that serve nearly 7,000 North Dakota students and employ more than 565 staff could be affected if the funding isn’t restored soon, said Nelson, also a member of the North Dakota Afterschool Network leadership team.
“Everybody is kind of on pins and needles just waiting for what happens next, and we’re kind of at the mercy of what is determined by our federal administration,” she said.
After-school providers use the grants in different ways, so the impact may vary depending on the provider, she said. The Boys and Girls Club of the Red River Valley used the grants to provide up to 85% tuition assistance for families that qualified, but those discounts may no longer be available unless the funds are released by the start of the school year.
“We would be charging the full amount and trying to leverage other sources to continue to make our programming affordable,” Nelson said. “Not only is it youth programming, but a lot of families use it as child care, so this crosses over into the child care crisis and shortage as well.”
The federal government could still release the grants after completing its review process, said Amanda Peterson, director of educational improvement and support for the Department of Public Instruction. But some North Dakota providers, especially in rural areas, may not be able to wait that long, she said.
“There are some entities that will still run summer programming, however they would have to raise their rates, or minimize their programming,” Peterson said. “You are going to have families that are going to be in need of after-school programming that may find that their local area doesn’t have the same capacity to support those programs.”
Peterson said she has not heard of any in-state providers closing their doors yet, but she is worried about the funding pause affecting student performance.
Pausing the grants so close to the beginning of the school year complicates how programs can respond, Peterson said.
“It’s one thing if we have a runway to plan for these funds, but when you are scrambling right before school starts … you are not focusing on the right thing,” she said.
About $6.3 million of the frozen grant funding was designated to support North Dakota student support and academic enrichment. Those grants can cover a variety of costs to support a well-rounded education, improve school conditions and upgrade technology.
Other grants that were withheld fund migrant education, English language instruction and adult education.
An estimated $10 million withheld for North Dakota was designated for teacher professional development. Those dollars support skills training such as curriculum building and developing effective teaching strategies, Peterson said.
“There is just a plethora of professional development that teachers need as ongoing training that is going to be missed,” Peterson said. “A lot of times, because that is something that is extra and supplemental, it’s the first thing to go if these funds do not exist.”
North Dakota Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Kirsten Baesler told school administrators in a June 30 notice that districts can keep the programs affected in their 2025-26 budgets, but they would need to use other dollars to cover the costs until the federal funds are released.
Baesler added those districts would be using the funds at their own risk as the Department of Public Instruction would not be able to reimburse the districts if the funding is not restored.
Baesler has been nominated to work in the U.S. Department of Education as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education. Her nomination was advanced by a committee and needs to be confirmed by the Senate.
In an interview Monday, U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said Trump administration officials have not hidden the fact that they want to return a lot of education funding to the states.
“What I do think is there will be a shifting … to where education is supposed to be delivered at the state level,” Cramer said.
He added he will continue to be in contact with Education Secretary Linda McMahon to try to ensure the rug is not pulled out from anyone.
Nick Archuleta, president of ND United, an educator and public employee union, said cuts to teacher preparedness will impact student success.
“I would encourage them, whatever review they are allegedly doing, that they do that review, do it quickly and get these funds out to where they can do the most good, and that is in our classrooms and in our after-school programming,” Archuleta said.
