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District staff say $750,000 in federal Title funds frozen while OMB reviews grants
Summary
District officials told the board on July 22 that roughly $750,000 in federal Title program dollars remained under Office of Management and Budget review, that the delay represents about one-quarter of the district's Title allocation, and that state processes may cover part of the shortfall.
District officials told the board on July 22 that about $750,000 in federal Title program funds were under federal administrative review and had not been released as of July 1. The district's finance staff said those frozen funds represent just under a quarter of the district's total Title allocation.
Superintendent Degner said the district has been actively advocating with federal and state elected officials while awaiting the Office of Management and Budget review. Degner read a response from James Rice, legislative director for Senator Charles Grassley, saying OMB is conducting "a rolling review" of grants and that funds will be released "for specific programs as soon as the review is complete." Rice wrote OMB had not said it intended to withhold funds completely.
Adam, a district finance staff member, told the board the frozen total is "about $750,000 across the frozen title programs," and that roughly $200,000 of that total is for an English-language-learners program covered by one of the Title programs. He said the state of Iowa has a School Budget Review Committee modified supplemental amount process that the district could use to reclaim overages for English-language-learner programming if the federal funds did not come through.
Board members pressed elected officials to be more active. One director said they were "outraged" at Senator Grassley and Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks for insufficiently communicating about the delay and urged more direct contact with the superintendent. The board did not take any formal action to change programming; administrators said they were monitoring the situation and were not modifying programming at this time.
District staff said they had been told by OMB that certain programs were expected to be released on a rolling basis and that some program funds (for programs other than this district's) had been targeted for release, which district staff characterized as an encouraging sign but not a guarantee. Officials emphasized the situation remained fluid and that timelines were not specified by OMB.
The district did not report any immediate program reductions tied to the freeze. Board members asked staff to continue providing updates and to follow up with state and federal representatives about timing and next steps.
Ending: District staff said they were continuing routine planning for the coming school year while monitoring the grant status and working with state processes that might backstop certain programs if federal funds ultimately were not released.
