U.S. Department of Education places federal grants on hold; Douglas Unified outlines contingency plan

At a special Douglas Unified School District governing board meeting, district staff reported that the U.S. Department of Education has placed a hold on several federal formula and competitive grants, and outlined a contingency plan to preserve grant-funded positions while the hold remains in effect.

The hold “is on all federal funding including Title I, Title II, Title III, [and] Title IV,” said Miss Samaniego (district grants administrator), who presented the summary and financial impacts to the board. She said the district’s immediate exposure if all affected obligations were not funded is $623,963.17.

Why it matters: the hold affects programs that fund staff and student services across the district. Miss Samaniego listed estimated shortfalls by program that the hold could cause if payments are not released: about $163,796.85 for Title II (professional development/new teacher induction), $97,060.72 for Title III (ELL services), roughly $160,000 for a 21st Century after-school program, and smaller impacts tied to Title I-c (migrant) positions. She said the total statewide hold was large — the number presented to the…