Possible federal funding freeze casts uncertain future for Sauk Valley schools

STERLING – Sauk Valley schools are facing an uncertain future after a chain of events involving a Trump administration memo freezing the dispersal of federal funding later briefly was paused by the courts.

Here is a snapshot of how those events could affect schools in the Sauk Valley area:

Sterling Public Schools

SPS Director of Finance Matt Birdsley said it currently is unclear which federal programs the freeze could affect.

“If it were to impact every federal program with no exclusions, it would impact our Title program, national breakfast and lunch program, and IDEA funding to support special education,” Birdsley said.

Birdsley said SPS has been allocated $1.2 million in Title I funding. Schools where at least 40% of students are classified as low-income qualify to receive Title I money, which can be used to fund additional teachers, tutors and after-school programs. He said SPS also receives $178,543 in Title II funds, which it uses to provide additional reading and math instructional support to at-risk students in grades K-5.

If that funding was eliminated, Birdsley said SPS would have to adjust its budget and reallocate funds to maintain those programs.

Rock Falls

Rock Falls Township High School District 301 Superintendent Ron McCord said that on average, Title funds supplement 3% to 5% of the school’s total operating fund revenue. He said that for fiscal 2025, Title I basic program improvements cost $304,747 and include:

• Summer school stipends
• Supplemental tech and instructional aides
• Supplemental classroom supplies and materials for English language arts and math
• Stipends for and social-emotional supports provided by the Student Assistance Program counselor, school counselors and social worker
• General school improvement initiatives and professional development for staff
• Homeless aid assistance
• Dual-credit assistance

RFHS plans to use $25,449 in fiscal 2025 Title II funds for teacher training and recruitment, including:

• English language arts salary assistance to reduce class size
• A new teacher mentoring program

McCord said RFHS also plans to use $20,589 in Title IV funds on student support and academic enrichment, including providing hot spots for low-income students, Advanced Placement exam fees and a school safety stipend for its school resource officer.

“If these federal funds were not available, programs would be dropped or need to be paid for with local and/or state funding,” McCord said.

Rock Falls Elementary School District 13 Superintendent Dan Arickx said federal funding for education, including Title I and Title II grants, is not currently affected and remains exempt. However, if that funding were to disappear, several significant changes could occur, such as increased school meal prices, larger classroom sizes and potential staff cuts.

“We’re talking about a couple million dollars being cut out of a $12 million budget,” Arickx said. “You can’t cut one-sixth of the budget without reducing the number of staff. The other problem would be that because of school law, to remove those people you have to notify them by April 15. If you do it after that date, then you have to keep them the next year, and you’re going to have to spend a ton of money out of your reserves.”

Arickx said that despite the district having built up its reserve funding over the past 15 years, such a move would be “drastic.”

Despite the day-to-day confusion many schools are facing across the nation, Arickx said District 13 is not panicking.

“There’s no real indicators that we are going to be losing any Title or IDEA grant money because those aren’t approved by the president, they’re approved by Congress,” Arickx said. “It would take a lot of work to get rid of those programs.”