UPDATE:
After school programs in Idaho facing cutbacks or possible closures due to frozen federal grants have a bit more breathing room.
The Idaho Department of Education is helping fund these awards through the end of the year, according to an email sent to grant awardees Wednesday afternoon.
“What a huge sigh of relief,” said Karma Metzler Fitzgerald, the co-founder of the Lincoln County Youth Center, after reading the email.
Department officials said they found $2.8 million from previous fiscal years to cover grantees as they wait for word of the program’s future from the federal government.
The money will fully fund grant recipients through at least December.
“Our goal is to reduce uncertainty and help programs retain experienced staff who are essential to continued operations,” wrote Sheena Strickler, who oversees the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program at ISDOE.
More than $6 billion in funds for after school programs, along with grants for teacher training and English language learners, have been frozen by the Trump administration for further review.
Metzler Fitzgerald said she’s thankful for the help, though she’ll continue to fundraise and apply for other grants in case these funds are not renewed.
“The nonprofit world is a tight one right now with the loss of so much federal funding. There is so much more competition for grant money and it’s tough,” she said.
Department officials weren’t available to comment on specifics of the funds by publication.
Strickler wrote in the email that programs that cannot continue operating under the new funding structure can terminate their grant without penalty, but are asked to do so by Aug. 1.
The rest of the $33 million in grants Idaho expected to receive from the federal government is still in limbo.
ORIGINAL STORY:
About $33 million of federal grants that support teacher training, after school programs and English language learners are in limbo for Idaho’s public school districts.
The Trump administration last week declined to release more than $6 billion in grants that are typically dispersed to states by July 1, according to NPR.
Karma Metzler Fitzgerald, who co-founded the Lincoln County Youth Center in Richfield, said her organization is rushing to find emergency funding to cover the annual $140,000 it’s received the past four years.
She said the money largely covers the center’s payroll and makes up half of her budget.
Barring finding quarters in the proverbial couch cushions, she said she might have to close the center by the end of this week.
“We can’t risk going into debt or anything like that to keep the program open,” said Metzler Fitzgerald. “We have to know there’s money coming.”
Between 50 and 75 kids spend time at the center each day while their parents are at work – free of charge – Metzler Fitzgerald said.
This week, for example, the younger children can attend a field trip to the Discovery Center of Idaho while older kids learn how to build and race rubber band propelled cars.
In a statement to education leaders cited by NPR, the U.S. Department of Education said it would review the funding “given the change in Administrations” and that “decisions have not yet been made concerning submissions and awards for this upcoming year.”
Metzler Fitzgerald said it’s largely a waiting game with federal officials.
“And a lot of just praying and knocking on doors of people who have donated in the past saying, ‘Can you help us out?’ Otherwise, we’re going to have to do something drastic and none of us want to do that.”
Nampa School District, one of the state’s largest, expected to receive about $1.7 million for the 2025-2026 school year across the handful of funding streams frozen by the Trump administration.
Matthew Sizemore, a district spokesperson, said in a statement administrators are “staying in close contact with the State Department of Education and remain hopeful for more clarity and a timely resolution.”
“Protecting student learning and well-being remains our highest priority, and we are working to minimize any disruptions by supporting staff wherever possible,” Sizemore wrote.
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