ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The U.S. Department of Education is apparently reneging on upwards of $418 million in COVID-related funds that is owed to Maryland schools, which the state Department of Education is calling "catastrophic."
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A late-Friday letter told local school systems that the Trump administration is immediately canceling any more COVID reimbursements and rebuking them for filing an extension request.
The Maryland State Department of Education said in a press conference today that it's telling local school systems not to spend any more money until the agency "knows exactly how to proceed." Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County and Prince George's County will be the hardest hit, said MSDE.
Maryland's school system has already spent at least 73 percent of that funding - roughly $305 million - under the presumption that it would be paid back as agreed, said State school board president Joshua Michael at a press conference this morning.
He said:
Where will that money come from? ... We just don't know who is going to end up carrying the bill. The federal government made the commitment for these things, told us to do it, and now they're coming back and bringing all of that into question.
The impact could potentially cause "significant disruption" by affecting construction that's already underway, tutoring that's already in process, and tuition funding for "Grow Your Own," the school systems' internal hiring program, for example, said State Superintendent Carey Wright.
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Maryland schools have gotten more than $3.2 billion in COVID funds, the vast majority of it allocated in the 2021 "American Rescue Plan" act and required to be spent by Sept. 30, 2024 (after which the money would be returned to the federal government).
Maryland took advantage of an extension, however, explaining how it was allocating the multiple rounds of COVID funding.
U.S. Secretary of State Linda McMahon's letter calls the extension an "administrative grace," and states: "...An agency may reconsider its prior decision. So you could not rely on the Department adhering to its original decision."
State Superintendent Carey Wright said many districts were struggling to meet the deadlines, "especially when it came to construction projects," because of supply-chain delays during COVID.
She said "we're all in a state of confusion," since the end of the letter notes the federal government will "consider an extension," after all, if the state can explain why it's necessary.
Michael also noted:
We went through an extensive process of justifying these expenses originally, of justifying these expenses in late liquidation, and now we're being asked to do it again - and also being told that we might not receive these funds. This feels like the opposite of efficiency to me.
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Maryland Department of Education responds after Feds rescind hundreds of millions in COVID-related reimbursements
