Rapid City schools warn pause in federal Title grants could stretch district budget and after-school programs

Rapid City Area School District 51-4 Superintendent Dr. Thompson told the board at its regular July meeting that the U.S. Department of Education had paused announcement of several federal Title allocations, and the pause could affect staffing and after‑school programming across the district.

Dr. Thompson said the paused allocations include Title I, Part C (migrant education), Title II‑A (supporting effective instruction), Title III (English language acquisition), Title IV‑A (student support and academic enrichment) and 21st Century Community Learning Centers (after‑school grant funding). “If title 2a and title 4, part a are not funded, it will have a significant impact on our budget and on programming moving forward,” she said.

Why it matters: The district currently counts on those categorical funds when budgeting for the school year. Dr. Thompson told the board the district typically receives about $1.2 million annually from Title II‑A—about half of which pays staff in the teaching, learning and innovation department—and about $750,000 annually from Title IV‑A, with roughly 60% of that funding supporting staff positions.…