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District Impact on President's Announcement of Pause on Federal Funded Programs

January 29, 2025

DPSCD Families, Staff, and Students,

As you may have seen or heard, President Trump issued a pause on providing funding for several programs that support all school districts throughout the country, including ours, related to school meals and special education to name a few. At this time, the pause on funding has been rejected due to a court injunction after national non-profits challenged the sweeping pause in federal funding. For now, this pause on funding will not impact the day-to-day operations of the District due to the injunction. However, if pauses in federal funding such as these do occur it may impact how we serve our families and students. It could also impact employment. The School Board and I will do everything within our budget to protect day-to-day operations and the program and services we provide to our students. Our strong fund balance can help maintain programs, services, and employment short-term but any sustained pause in federal funding or large reductions in federal funding will cause the need for modifications or the elimination of specific programs, services, and employment. Nearly 32% of our overall District budget relies on federal funding.

As always, I will keep you updated regarding federal and state funding and policy decisions that can impact the District. In the meantime, it is important that we all stay focused on students attending school daily and continuing to raise student achievement!

Sincerely,

Nikolai P. Vitti, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Detroit Public Schools Community District