Federal cuts could cost Vallejo schools $1.1M

VALLEJO – The Vallejo Unified School District could lose over a million dollars this school year after the U.S. Department of Education announced it would freeze upcoming grant funding.

The withheld grants, which amount to about $6.8 billion nationwide and $939 million in California alone, include funding for programs for English language learning, migrant education, technology, and teacher and principal support. 

Maral Papakhian, a Vallejo school district spokesperson, said the frozen grants are “expected to directly impact VCUSD’s finances, both in the short and long term.”

Papakhian said the district estimates it could lose about $1.1 million for the upcoming school year. Like other districts in California, the vast majority of VCUSD’s funding comes from the state. The cuts would make up about 0.5% of the district’s budget of about $201 million.

While proportionately small, the cuts could be especially hard on VCUSD, which approved two school closures in February, and is considering more school closures in order to remain financially stable. 

The cuts are slated to have a disproportionate impact on immigrants and English learners, as they target programs that serve those populations. Papakhian said the cuts would include $310,000 to those programs. Over 25% of the district’s students are English learners, according to state data.

According to Papakhian, about $550,000 of the cuts would affect programs that help teachers and principals, like professional development sessions and conferences. About $280,000 could hit programs that improve the use of technology and digital literacy.

Although these grants were already approved by Congress and set to be distributed on July 1, the Education Department emailed education agencies on June 30 and said the grants would be frozen while the department reviewed them to ensure “taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the president’s priorities.” 

Freezing the grants is part of the Trump Administration’s broader effort to limit federal involvement in education. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the administration to fire nearly 1,400 department employees, which is part of a plan to entirely dismantle the department.

But states, including California, are challenging the Education Department’s ability to unilaterally freeze the grants. On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that California along with 23 other states are suing the Trump Administration over the cuts. In a complaint, the states argue that withholding the grants will "irreparably harm students and families” and that the Education Department is withholding the funds “without any statutory or constitutional authority.”

Papakhian said that, even if the grants remain frozen, the district is not planning to cut any positions in the next school year that are funded by these grants.

"Thanks to prudent planning, VCUSD will maintain staffing for all current positions funded through these programs for the 2025–26 school year,” Papakhian said. “These roles are essential to our school sites' instructional and emotional support systems and districtwide.”

Should the cuts occur though, Papakhian said, “new initiatives or continued staffing will be significantly affected,” starting in the 2026-27 school year, and that “this may result in fewer enriching opportunities for students that would otherwise be made possible through federally funded initiatives.”