The Wayland Union School District will not receive a $66,315 federal grant originally promised for next March because of funding cutbacks generated by the new presidential administration.
Michigan State Supt. Michael Rice said there were 27 districts that had qualified for more than $40 million pre-approved by the federal Department of Education and they had received extensions to those deadlines.
Rice said the directive that the deadline was being moved, but wasn’t received until after the new March 28 deadline had passed. The projects, which were still being worked on by the districts to get reimbursements, included heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems, boilers and windows.
“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,” Rice said. “Instead, Secretary (Linda) McMahon and the Trump Administration abruptly withdrew approval.”
He said Congressman Tim Walburg (R-Tipton), who chairs the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee, was advocating that those federal commitments be honored.
Rice said, “A change in administration 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.”
