Caldwell officials warn of frozen federal grants totaling about $1.16 million

School finance staff told the Caldwell School District Board of Trustees on July 14 that several federal program allocations expected for fiscal year 2026 are temporarily frozen at the federal level, creating uncertainty for planned programs.

Miss Mead said the Department of Education has put allocations for Title I‑C (migrant), Title II‑A (educator effectiveness), Title III (English learners), Title IV‑A (student support and academic enrichment) and some 21st Century grants on hold. "We do not know how long that is," she said, urging caution while staff continue programming under the assumption funds will be released.

Miss Mead and Dr. French described the funding as reimbursement‑based: the district typically spends for the programs and then seeks federal reimbursement. Miss Mead estimated the withheld total at about $1,157,000, with roughly $630,000 tied specifically to migrant education. She emphasized that freezing reimbursements does not remove the district's legal obligations to serve eligible students: "Freezing funds or withholding funds does not change our obligations under federal law to serve these students," she told trustees.

Trustees and staff also raised concern about potential impacts from changes to Medicaid reimbursement; staff said the district receives roughly $2 million in Medicaid reimbursements annually (approximately 70% reimbursed) and are monitoring that area closely.

District leaders said they are proceeding cautiously — preserving planned programming where feasible but preparing contingency options and promising updates at the July 28 work session. Dr. French noted that some community‑partner grants (for example, roughly $250,000 tied to Boys and Girls Club partnerships) could be affected if the hold remains long term.