Yorkville, Plano schools at risk of losing more than $200K as Trump freezes federal grants

Illinois school districts are facing uncertainty after the Trump administration abruptly froze more than $6 billion in federal education grants nationwide, including an estimated $240 million intended for Illinois K-12 schools.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Education informed states that it would delay issuing grant awards for the upcoming academic year while it reviews funding for multiple programs, including Title I, Title II, Title III and Title IV.

Those grants support services such as teacher training, after-school programming, English learner services and student mental health initiatives.

The freeze applies to funding already approved by Congress, and state education leaders say the delay is putting school districts in a difficult position with the 2025-26 school year looming.

“The delay by the Trump administration in issuing federal education funding allocations – for funding that Congress already appropriated – is deeply disruptive, irresponsible, and damaging to Illinois’ 1.9 million public school students,” State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tony Sanders said in a statement. “This uncertainty and delay jeopardizes schools’ ability to administer critical services – from afterschool programs, to teacher development, to supplemental services for English learners.”

District responses across Illinois and Kendall County have varied based on their reliance on federal aid.

Yorkville School District 115 Superintendent Matt Zediker said the district is making plans on navigating the uncertainty while closely watching how the federal game plan unfolds.

While a federal memo in January hinted that up to $1.5 million in federal funds could be withheld from Yorkville 115, Zediker said $1.3 million of that, the Title I funds and the school lunch program funds, do not seem to be impacted.

“The silver lining right now is the largest bucket of money, the Title I-A funds that fund some parts of staffing and support for kids and schools that qualify, seems to still be coming our way,” Zediker said. “The food lunch program, which is run by the (U.S.) Department Of Agriculture, is not something I’m seeing at-risk right now. We’re looking roughly at $200,000 in total outside Title I that could be at-risk of not flowing through the district. That is with our Title II, Title III and Title IV.”

The district receives $826,644 in Title I federal dollars, which are allocated to schools if 40% or more of their student population meets low-income criteria. The money can be used to fund additional teachers, tutors or after-school programs.

The district receives an average of $488,000 annually as a participant in the National School Lunch Program.

The district receives $156,952 in Title II federal funding, allocated to help teachers, principals and other education staff to improve their professional practice through funding additional educational training.

Zediker said Title II funding is crucial for the district because it’s earmarked for their English Language Learners (ELL) students. The district’s number of ELL students jumped from 384 in 2021 to 630 currently, and is projected to continue growing.

“If that were to go away, from a long-term perspective, we would need to take a look at alternate funding,” Zediker said. “We need the support staff, the teachers, and the enrichment programs to help our English Language learners. We will take a close look and do out best to ensure we’re keeping our dual-language program, and the transitional program of instruction, for our kids.”

Zediker said the Title IV funding for before-and-after-school programs, and the enhancement and enrichment programs is a smaller bucket of money.

“Any money that’s taken away when we talk about supporting students is something we want to be concerned about, but the district would be able to overcome that money out of Title IV”, Zediker said.

Plano School District 88 Superintendent Tracy Thurwanger said the district is facing minimal consequences from federal funding uncertainty.

“Our Board of Education and administrative team have done an outstanding job of protecting the district’s financial interests,” Thurwanger said. “We continue to monitor all funding sources and are prepared to address any shifts in funding that may arise.”

Thurwanger said the district is poised well to continue their programs.

“Within the list of impacted grants, only Title IV-A poses any impact on our current projected grant funding revenues for the 2025-26 school year.,” Thurwanger said. “Our projected Title IV-A funds for the 2025-26 school year total just over $43,000, resulting in a minimal impact on district programming.”