Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., urged Russell Vought, director of the United States Office of Management and Budget, to restore $6 billion in education funding to public schools nationwide.
President Donald Trump’s administration withheld previously approved money from schools nationwide hours before it was due to flow into their accounts for the new fiscal year on July 1. According to Marion County School Superintendent Donna Heston, Marion County Schools was set to receive $800,000 under the four frozen programs.
“The decision to withhold this funding is contrary to President Trump’s goal of returning K-12 education to the states,” Capito states in a letter. “This funding goes directly to states and local school districts, where local leaders decide how this funding is spent, because as we know, local communities know how to best serve students and families. Withholding this funding denies states and communities the opportunity to pursue localized initiatives to support students and their families.”
The four programs Trump withheld funding for were Title I-C, II-A, III-A, IV-A and IV-B. Schools go through a yearly budget request process, which the federal government uses to allocate funds through state department of educations. Funds are distributed on July 1 with the start of the fiscal year even though the federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1. The letter points out President Trump signed the bill funding the programs into law earlier this year.
For Fiscal Year 2025, Heston said Marion County Schools received $263,655 for professional development. Title II is restricted to professional development only. Heston said the grant covered conference registration fees, paying for personnel to attend trainings or bringing in trainers for teachers and administrators. Marion County Schools also received $252,000 for after school programming through the 21st Century Learning Centers Grant. Seventy five percent of the funds went to staff, while the rest was taken up by professional development, a professional educator and supplies.
The school district also received $2,090 in supplies for its English as a Second Language learners through a Title III grant. Marion County Schools received another grant for professional development through Title VI, which also covers technology and safety. Another $130,000 went toward professional development, $120,000 went toward school resource officers and $37,000 to technology supplies.
A report published by New America using data from the Annual Survey of School System Finances published by the U.S. Census Bureau for Fiscal Year 2022 states Marion County Schools were at risk of losing $4.5 million dollars under Title IV-B as a result of the budget freeze. However, Heston said Marion County Schools does not have a Title IV-B listed in their State system, which lists grants that are awarded to local school districts. The largest grant Marion County receives annually is under the Individuals with Disabilities Act, which is around $2.5 million. IDEA funds are not being withheld for review.
“When looking at FY 2024 and FY 2025 in the grant system of the state, MCS does not have Title IV-B listed as one of our grants for the district,” Heston said. “Perhaps it is going to another agency, such as DHHR, but it is not listed for Marion County School System in our system run by the state.”
During his tenure as head of the OMB, Vought has pursued an ideological agenda, calling programs he dislikes “woke” as a rationale for eliminating them. Vought was also the architect of Project 2025, a 900-page wish list of policy proposals that impose an ultra-conservative social vision and expand presidential power, even at the expense of Congress. He’s expressed an interest in targeting programs antithetical to his vision of society in the federal government.
“We share your concern about taxpayer money going to fund radical left-wing programs,” Capito said. “However, we do not believe that is happening with these funds. These funds go to support programs that enjoy longstanding, bipartisan support like after-school and summer programs that provide learning and enrichment opportunities for school aged children which also enables their parents to work and contribute to local economies.”
Twenty four states have filed a lawsuit challenging the funding freeze, arguing the decision is contrary to decades of legal requirements. The lawsuit claims the OMB has even gone so far as to withhold the funds from the Department of Education itself. The plaintiffs argue Trump and Vought are violating the U.S. Constitution, wreaking havoc on teacher training programs and programs intended to make school more accessible to children with special needs.
“The eleventh-hour notification left no time to address the momentous fiscal vacuum created by Defendants’ actions,” the legal filing states.
West Virginia did not join the lawsuit. A similar lawsuit filed in April over frozen funding for AmeriCorps resulted in a judge ordering those funds to be released, but only to states that challenged the freeze. Since West Virginia did not join in that suit either, it was left out as AmeriCorps funding was restored to the plaintiffs. in Marion County, AmeriCorps employees ran the Tygart Valley United Way’s FlipSide after school care program.