SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Parkland School District stands to lose more than $410,00 in federal funding because of a Trump Administration freeze, district officials said Tuesday.
The Trump Administration announced in late June that it would not pay out more than $6 billion allocated through six grant programs created by Congress.
Parkland expected to get about $215,000 from the Title II-A program to improve the skills of teachers, $64,000 from Title III-A to support English instruction for non-native speakers and $132,000 from Title IV-A for student support and academic enrichment.
The district still will get nearly $1.5 million from Title I basic program improvement funding, Parkland Business Administration Director Leslie Frisbie said.
Salaries, software, curriculum
Though the frozen grants account for less than 1% of the district’s 2025-26 budget, losing that money still could meaningfully affect district operations, Frisbie told the school board.
Without the funding, district officials would shift money around to cover nearly $230,000 in teacher and paraprofessional salaries, she said.
“We know the proposed impact, we know what we are currently funding. At this point, it’s a waiting game for at least the short term to see if that money comes through or not."Parkland Business Administration Director Leslie Frisbie
Other spending, on programs such as tutoring for English learners or educational software, would be scaled back or eliminated.
Losing the funding means Parkland must come up with $50,000 for curriculum transition expenses, part of a five-year commitment federal money helped cover.
District officials have not yet worked out exactly where to cut spending to make up for the lost funding, Frisbie said, or what programs to keep and which to eliminate.
Whether the money comes through now is largely up to federal courts. Pennsylvania is among 25 states suing the Trump administration and asking a judge to unfreeze all of the frozen grants.
“We know the proposed impact, we know what we are currently funding," Frisbie said.
"At this point, it’s a waiting game for at least the short term to see if that money comes through or not."
'Beyond our control'
Members of the Parkland community should contact their representatives in Congress to push back against the funding freeze, she said.
Board President Robert Cohen asked his fellow school directors to draft a statement pushing back against the decision to block funding.
“If I was promised something and then suddenly not promised it, a lot of people would actually come up and tell me that I’m not doing the right thing. And it seems like we are not getting the funds we were promised.”Parkland School Board member Jay Rohatgi
Board members can wade into the policy debate and criticize federal officials more freely than district staff, he suggested.
“The smooth running of our district is now being interrupted with issues that are beyond our control,” Cohen said. “Maybe at our next meeting, we can have a discussion as to what actions we as a board [may take] to express our position.”
The board will consider an official statement at its August meeting, but several board members did not wait to criticize the Trump administration.
“If I was promised something and then suddenly not promised it, a lot of people would actually come up and tell me that I’m not doing the right thing," board member Jay Rohatgi said.
"And it seems like we are not getting the funds we were promised.”
