- Michigan school districts received three rounds of federal COVID-19 relief funds
- US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the time to spend the money has ended, despite previously approved spending extensions
- The Michigan Department of Education says 27 school districts are affected by the change
Michigan school districts may be on the hook for nearly $42 million in spending after the US Secretary of Education abruptly cut off federal COVID-19 funds, even though districts had been granted an extension until next year to spend down the money.
Education officials denounced the decision Monday, with the state’s superintendent warning that it may force districts to scale back spending on instructional costs or dip into savings to make payments on contracts they had already committed to.
Congress passed three rounds of COVID-19 relief funds for school districts during the pandemic. In total, Michigan received about $5.6 billion in funds. School leaders used the funds for mental health support, tutoring and building improvements, among other things.
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Districts had until September 30, 2024, to finalize spending commitments for the most recent round of funds and had to finish spending the money by late January 2025 unless they received an extension.
While still under the Biden administration, the US Department of Education had granted an extension to March 28, 2026, to request reimbursements for funds, according to the Michigan Department of Education.
But US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent a letter to state school chiefs on Friday saying that the deadline for reimbursement requests had been changed to 5 p.m. on March 28, 2025, the same day as the letter.
“The Department has concluded that the further extension of the liquidation period for the aforementioned grants, already well past the period of performance, was not justified,” McMahon said in the letter. “You and your subrecipients have had ample time to liquidate obligations.”
States can apply for project-specific extensions if they submit information on “how a particular project’s extension is necessary to mitigate the effects of COVID on American students’ education,” and why the USDOE should grant the request, McMahon said in her letter.
State Superintendent Michael Rice said Monday in a statement that the decision was “unacceptable.” The Michigan Department of Education said it received the letter from McMahon shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday, meaning the deadline had already passed.
“Without the promised March 2026 date for federal reimbursement requests, districts may be forced to reduce instructional expenditures for students, diminish savings, or both to honor these contracts,” Rice said.
“We were stunned by the sudden rollback of funding for COVID-19 funds that had previously been approved," said Pontiac School District Interim Superintendent Kimberly Leverette.
"The potential impact on our district is significant as the majority of our $3.3 million has been committed to projects that are complete and we have paid for," Leverette said. "We are currently in the process of submitting for reimbursement on those projects. The lack of warning of this change is unduly distressing for all involved and has caused significant financial strain and concern over necessities and critical resources that we were assured had been approved."
Woodhaven-Brownstown School District is slated to make HVAC upgrades to its upper elementary school this summer and upgraded its middle school HVAC system last summer, Superintendent Mark Greathead told Bridge.
“It’s not the type of project that can just be done in the middle of a school year,” Greathead said.
He said the projects are part of an eight-year plan to upgrade buildings.
“No matter what happens, we are committed to this project. And if we are not able to utilize these dollars, the dollars will come from somewhere else and it will always have a domino effect to the classroom.”
“These federally funded projects are important to students and staff in our districts in Michigan and across the country,” State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh said in a statement. “To cancel funding approval on no notice and to tell districts that they may apply for a second approval from the U.S. Department of Education to access these funds, with different criteria, has nothing to do with service to schoolchildren.”
Districts affected
There are 27 school districts in Michigan affected by this decision, according to a list provided by the Michigan Department of Education.
In total, districts have roughly $40 million left of allocated American Rescue Plan funds — the third and largest round of COVID-19 relief funds — and about $1.9 million left from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations.
