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Committee questions cuts to substitute supports and athletic trainer grant as districts warn of local impacts
Summary
Members and district leaders warned that proposed eliminations to the substitute teacher reimbursement and athletic trainer block grants would shift costs to local school districts; DOE said cuts were part of a 1% discipline exercise and agreed to provide district-level impact data.
Committee members pressed Department of Education finance staff on two items that districts and providers say would have immediate operational impacts: the substitute teacher lines and the athletic trainer block grant.
DOE and Controller General staff explained the difference between two substitute-related lines: the substitute teacher block grant (a 10-month full-time substitute program targeted to high-need schools) and the substitute reimbursement line (funding to reimburse districts for replacement teachers when staff take paid family leave). "The substitute reimbursement line is for funding to reimburse for contracts and substitute teachers that included funding that covered paid family leave," the department said. "The block grant is to hire 10-month substitutes targeted for high-need schools." Committee members noted both lines were recommended for elimination; DOE said the cuts would revert costs to local districts and that some districts may continue funding locally but others would not be able to absorb the loss.
District leaders told the committee the local impact could be large. Dr. Dorel Greene, a district superintendent attending the hearing, said his district would face a roughly $585,000 shortfall if the state portion of the high-need substitute block grant were removed. "The funds aren't there, so therefore we're going to have to find the money," he said.
Athletic trainers and public commenters urged restoration of the $2.3 million athletic trainer block grant, which DOE said currently supports athletic training coverage across 43 high schools. Several certified athletic trainers and former licensing-board representatives told the committee the grant helps provide on-site care, reduce unnecessary ER visits and stabilize student-athlete care in lower-income communities. The Department acknowledged the value and said the budget reductions were prioritized using a review of carryover and impact, but provided no immediate commitment to restore the line. "We did rank items from least impactful to most impactful as part of the exercise," DOE finance staff said.
The committee requested district-by-district breakouts for both the substitute funding lines and the athletic trainer allocations so members can evaluate the local fiscal and programmatic consequences before final appropriation votes.
Next steps: DOE to provide a district-level breakdown of substitute funding and athletic trainer grant recipients and carryover figures for WLC and other pass-through programs. Public commenters and LEA representatives signaled they would bring written cost and service-impact estimates to markup sessions.
