A freeze on federal education dollars cast $1.5 million in Arlington Public Schools funding into doubt.
This was the amount of funding at APS that the U.S. Department of Education withheld for weeks as part of a review to ensure that spending aligned with the White House’s priorities.
The funding was still in doubt at the time of a presentation that Superintendent Francisco Durán gave to the Arlington School Board on Thursday. On Friday, however, the Trump administration released billions of dollars for schools around the country following pressure from Republican lawmakers.
The funding at APS targeted professional development, English-language learners and miscellaneous academic supports, mostly for Title I schools. School leaders’ biggest fear would be major cuts to broader funding for Title I schools, which have a large percentage of students from at-risk households, and for special-education supports.
As of Thursday, the school system had not received official word from either the U.S. Department of Education or the Virginia Department of Education on the status of that revenue stream.
“We’ve seen nationally in media reports that Title I and special-ed funding is not being cut right now,” Durán told School Board members.
If it is, “that will be a major, major issue,” he said.
Across Virginia, the U.S. Department of Education had failed to distribute a pot of $123.5 million in federal funds that Congress had appropriated.
In withholding the funds, the Office of Management and Budget had said some of the programs supported a “radical leftwing agenda.” A group of 10 Republican senators on July 16 sent a letter imploring the administration to allow the frozen education money to be sent to states, saying the withheld money supported programs and services that are critical to local communities.
The Office of Management and Budget has completed its review of the programs and, as of Friday, was on track to begin sending the money to the states this week.
Federal funding represents about 3% of Arlington Public Schools’ $845 million fiscal year 2026 budget.
Significant uncertainty still hangs over the school system’s federal dollars as the Department of Education is pushing APS to change its policy permitting transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their gender identity.
In the spring, School Board members delayed adoption of the fiscal year 2026 budget for several weeks in an effort to gain more clarity on both state and federal revenue streams. In the end, the final dollar amount of $845 million for the 2025-26 school year was left unchanged from the figure proposed when the draft budget was presented months before.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
