Savannah‑Chatham County officials review federal grants inventory and push contingency planning amid funding uncertainty

District staff on a finance advisory committee meeting presented an inventory of federal, state and private grants that fund instructional programs, student supports and dozens of school‑based positions, and board members pressed district leaders to begin contingency planning in case federal funding is reduced or eliminated.

The presentation, introduced by a district staff member and carried by Sukhana, Director of Compensatory Programs, summarized grants that support literacy, STEM/STEAM, leadership development, social‑emotional supports and special education services. Sukhana told the committee, “we won't for the sake of time go over each of these grants, but know that you have that information available to you.”

Why it matters: several board members said federal grants underwrite staff and services that would be difficult or impossible to replace with local or philanthropic dollars. The district currently counts “225 site‑based positions” funded through Title I and, according to one quick tally shared in the meeting, “377 faculty and staff are attached to federal funds.” The superintendent warned the board that a loss of Title I funding would be catastrophic: “The bottom line to this is if we lost federal funding in Title I, there is…