Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com

It appears some area school districts will be impacted by recent actions by the U.S. Department of Education to pull back federal COVID funding which had already been approved.

State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice and State Board of Education President Dr. Pamela Pugh are issuing statements on how the action will harm Michigan students and schools.

On Friday, March 28th just after 5pm, state education agencies across the country - including the Michigan Department of Education - received a communication from U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon to announce that the deadline for reimbursement requests for Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations and American Rescue Plan funds had been changed to the same date, Friday, March 28, at 5 p.m.

Prior to the change, the deadline had been March 28, 2026, with districts across the country, including in Michigan, having been approved to submit delayed requests for late reimbursement of their pre-approved projects.

A list of the affected districts and dollar amounts is available in the link.

Brighton Area Schools is among 12 districts listed under the American Rescue Act at $1,190,714. Under COVID response, Northville Public Schools is among the 15 districts and listed at $62,650.

In a statement to WHMI News, BAS Superintendent Matt Outlaw said "This does impact Brighton. We have approximately $280,000 of remaining reimbursement that had been approved by the State for after the December spending deadline. We did everything that we could to complete our window and HVAC project prior to that date, but there were a few construction-related delays that led us to ask for the extension for this portion of the project. The project was paid for through a combination of one-time government funding and district general funds, so this change would obviously increase the general fund contribution for this project."

State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice released the following statement:

“Walking back a federal commitment to pandemic relief funds to improve the air quality, healthfulness, and safety of schools coming out of the pandemic is unacceptable. Michigan’s children stand to lose more than $40 million. Twenty-seven districts across the state have preapproved financial obligations that met criteria set by the U.S. Department of Education for extending the districts’ deadlines to request reimbursement of these funds. Instead, Secretary McMahon and the Trump Administration abruptly withdrew approval. These funds were approved to be spent on projects including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, boilers, and windows. The 27 districts entered contracts with the understanding that their preapproved projects would be reimbursed by the federal government. A change in administrations should not void previous commitments. 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. The U.S. secretary of education needs to rethink her March 28 communication. U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and Michigan’s other members of Congress must insist that federal commitments to schools and districts that they represent be honored.”


State Board of Education President Dr. Pamela Pugh added the following: “As a public health professional for many years, it is a particular affront to me that the U.S. Department of Education would walk back its commitment to projects that protect the health and safety of our students—including for schools in communities such as Flint, Pontiac, and Benton Harbor that were hit especially hard by COVID-19. These federally funded projects are important to students and staff in our districts in Michigan and across the country. 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.”

A link to the federal letter is provided.