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School districts react to Dept. of Ed cuts
NEWPORT — School districts in Pend Oreille and West Bonner Counties are keeping their eyes on the Department of Education, which now has about half the workforce it did before President Donald Trump took office.
The Newport, Cusick, Selkirk and West Bonner County School Districts all receive varying levels of funding from the federal government for the this school year. Most of that funding is established, administered and coordinated by the federal Department of Education, according to its website.
With only half its. workforce, the Department of Education may no longer have enough workers to distribute federal funding to Newport and other school districts, Newport Superintendent Dave Smith said.
“We’re just being very cautious, and we’re watching it, and waiting to respond if needed depending on what our funding levels are,” Newport Superintendent Dave Smith said. Selkirk is too, Selkirk Superintendent Nancy Lotze wrote in an email.
At Newport, federal funding is 13% — over $2.5 million — of the school district’s revenue. About $550,000, or 8%, of Selkirk’s budget and $312,500, or 2.5%, of West Bonner’s budget are federally funded.
Cusick Superintendent Don Hawpe was traveling with students to Washington D.C. and did not provide numbers for Cusick. For the 2023–2024 school year, Cusick received more than 13% — $1.87 million — of their budget from federal funding, according to the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
If Newport loses federal funding, “that would hurt us big time,” Smith said.
The federal government mainly funds Newport’s Title I and special education programs. Federal funding amounts to $605,190 for Title I and $314,326 for special education.
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was established to close achievement gaps between low-income students and their peers, before expanding to include all low-achieving students.
Students assessed as below grade level in reading and mathematics are put into New- port’s Title I services, Smith said. Then, Newport staffs schools based on how many Title I students attend each one.
“That’s what would be the biggest issue with us,” Smith said. “It’s the staffing.”
Selkirk, which receives federal funding for Title I, special education and food service programs, may have similar issues.
Title I funding allows Selkirk to support smaller classes in kindergarten through fifth grade, Lotze wrote, providing remedial services in reading, mathematics and writing. At Selkirk, Title I funding amounts to $190,000.
Selkirk receives most of its funding for special education from the state — about $400,000. That is more than five times the amount from the federal government, about $70,000. But unlike special education, Title I is only funded federally.
Federal nutritional programs also support free breakfast and lunch for students.
“At this point there are not any visible impacts, but I am concerned about our food service program,” Lotze wrote.
Selkirk uses Title I funding for teachers and paraeducators, and special education funding for a speech therapist, a school psychologist and occupational and physical therapy services, Lotze wrote. Funding for Selkirk’s food service program goes toward food and kitchen staff.
“We are watching both the state and national headlines closely,” Lotze wrote.
Besides Title I and special education, West Bonner Superintendent Kim Spacek said West Bonner has Title II and IV programs funded by the federal government. Title I funding amounts to $442,997, while Titles II and IV amount to $68,847 and $47,418.
Like at Newport and Selkirk, Title I funds teachers, paraprofessionals and intervention groups for students who do not meet state standards. Title II funds teacher and principal professional development, and Title IV funds technology such as laptops and computer labs.
West Bonner also receives federal forest funding, or timber funding.
“We know if we lose federal funding that we would have a reduction in force at that time,” Spacek said.
The federal government has allocated funding for Title 1, special education and other educational programs in this year’s budget, Smith said. Newport, Selkirk and West Bonner expect to receive that funding this year, but “next year may be a different story,” Lotze wrote, adding that the budgeting process for 2025–2026 has just begun.
More than half of Newport’s student body is low-income, with over 53% of Stratton Elementary, 65% of Sadie Halstead Middle and 69% of Newport High School students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. About 48% of West Bonner’s students are low-income, and 13% have special needs.
Without federal funding, “we wouldn’t be able to provide those remedial services for kids that are struggling,” Smith said. Many of those students, Spacek said, are likely to be low-income or have special needs.
Though he needs the approval of Congress to do so, Trump plans to close the Department of Education and move some of its work to other federal agencies — an act Spacek said may give school districts more jurisdiction over “how [federal funding] applies to the kids in our state.” Secretary of education Linda McMahon told Fox News in an interview that Trump intended to sign an executive order closing the Department of Education, but declined to specify when.
