Superintendent says some federal education funds temporarily on hold; district monitoring

The superintendent of Coquille SD 8 told the board that federal funding for several programs has been temporarily paused and that the district is watching for guidance on what the pause means for next school year.

"We received notice today that federal funding for some major federal programs is currently put on hold," the superintendent said, adding that the hold is intended to allow federal authorities to review for "fraud, waste and abuse." The superintendent said Title II funds were included on the hold list; Title 1A was not, but Title 1C and Title IV were included.

The superintendent said an emergency, statewide superintendent Zoom meeting had been called for the following day and that they planned to attend and relay information back to the board. "I am going to attend that Zoom meeting and have some more information on that," the superintendent said.

Board members asked whether the pause affected all federal funding or only parts of it; the superintendent clarified that Title II and other specified pots of money were affected while some other titles were not. The superintendent said the district had been planning on being "okay for 2025," but that the hold raises concern for the 2026 budget.

The board did not take formal action during the report. The superintendent said they would send an update to the board as soon as more information is available and would follow up after the statewide meeting.

What’s next: the superintendent will attend the statewide meeting and provide written updates to board members.