Trump cancels $17 million in federal COVID aid for 4 North Carolina school districts
Four North Carolina school districts have lost $17 million in federal COVID aid after the U.S. Department of Education abruptly canceled the funding.
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a letter to states Friday informing them that she was immediately terminating unspent federal stabilization funds that were provided during the pandemic. The decision could cost schools around the country $3 billion, according to a spreadsheet obtained by The 74, an education news outlet.
State Superintendent Mo Green, a Democrat, said that the funding loss “threatens the financial integrity” of four school districts: Halifax, Lenoir, Richmond and Robeson counties by costing them $17 million. The State Board of Education unanimously approved a joint statement with Green on Thursday to urge McMahon to reverse her decision.
“Our students’ education should not be jeopardized by an arbitrary deadline change when districts have been operating in good faith under approved timelines,” Green said.
The Department of Education has justified the cancellation of the grant because it says the emergency that led to the COVID funding is over.
“States and school districts can no longer claim they are spending their emergency pandemic funds on ‘COVID relief’ when there are numerous documented examples of misuse,” Madi Biedermann, the U.S. Department of Education’s deputy assistant secretary for communications, said in a statement to Mass Live, a news outlet in Massachusetts..
‘Unprecedented action’ to cut funding
The cancellation of the COVID funds is the latest in the round of federal cuts announced by the Trump administration.
Concerns about federal funding have risen since President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing McMahon to take the necessary steps to dismantle the Education Department. Trump has said he wants to to turn the power over education back to the states.
Schools originally had until March 2026 to use the remaining stabilization funds. But McMahon said Friday that the deadline to spend the money was abruptly ending March 28.
“This unprecedented action undermines the careful financial planning of school districts across North Carolina and threatens critical programs supporting students,” Green told the state board.
Green said Halifax, Lenoir, Richmond and Robeson counties had “strategically allocated the federal resources to address projects approved” by the Education Department.
According to the state Department of Public Instruction, the decision will cost $14.6 million for the Public Schools of Robeson County, $1.3 million for Richmond County, $886,000 for Halifax County and $252,000 for Lenoir County.
“They have made financial commitments, including contracts for facility improvement based on a previously approved liquidation timeline,” Green said. “These districts will now face potential cancellation of projects or worse will not have the resources to pay the bills for work already done. This sudden reversal creates an administrative and financial crisis for districts that have legitimately relied on the USDOE’s prior approval.”
Will McMahon change her mind?
McMahon said schools could apply on a project-by-project basis to get the funding back. But Green said that would be duplicative, create an administrative burden and introduce “unacceptable uncertainty.”
The letter asks McMahon to reconsider her decision or to promptly grant the appeals that will be submitted.
It’s unlikely that McMahon will approve the request.
“Extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion,” McMahon said in her March 28 letter.
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com
This story was originally published April 3, 2025 at 11:52 AM.
