Trump, Lombardo Plan to Dismantle Dept of Education Leads to Over $60M in Federal Funds for Nevada's Students in Need Halted Last Minute
July 15, 2025
“These particular grants provide services to some of our most vulnerable students” – Clark County Superintendent Jhone Ebert
Following Donald Trump’s executive order to eliminate the Department of Education and Joe Lombardo’s full-throated endorsement of the move, Nevada’s public schools had over $60 million in federal funds ripped away at the last minute. According to the Learning Policy Institute, this funding freeze amounts to an over-15% cut in federal funding for K-12 support in Nevada.
The $61 million in federal funds had been previously allocated to support Nevada’s most at-need students, including English language learners and after-school programs, which often provide additional academic support and childcare. Schools were notified of the freeze in grants just one day before the funding deadline.
This is just the latest loss in federal funds expected by Nevada’s public schools. In April, the Trump administration froze another $29 million in education funds meant to support mental health services and upgrade technology in Nevada schools. The Lombardo-Trump plan to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, which the Supreme Court greenlit this week, also threatens nearly $1 billion per year in funding for Nevada schools and students. If Lombardo and Trump get their way, funding for Pell Grants, community colleges, special education, career and technical education, and other essential services for Nevada students will be on the chopping block.
Read more below:
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Over $60M in federal funding for Nevada’s schools on hold
By Katie Futterman
July 11, 2025
Key points:
- More than $60 million in federal funding is up in the air for Nevada schools, according to a memo from the U.S. Department of Education.
- In a June 30 email to the Nevada Department of Education, the federal agency said it was reviewing certain grants — some of which fund after-school programming and English language learning — because of the change in administrations and would not release them by the July 1 deadline as it did in years past.
- The move pauses $61 million in grants for Nevada, and nearly $7 billion around the country. The grants in question fund after-school programs, English-learner services, professional development and migrant education.
- “The timing of the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to withhold funding for several important programs is unfortunate,” Clark County School District Superintendent Jhone Ebert said in an email. “While the funds were appropriated by Congress in March, the decision to hold the funds was announced one day before the money was set to be utilized. Also, this decision comes when we are close to the beginning of the upcoming school year.”
- In a statement following the memo, the Nevada State Education Association, the local affiliate of the national union, called the Trump administration an “anti-public education administration.”
- “Stripping away these resources forces schools to shoulder yet another round of unfunded mandates, deepening financial strain, and diminishing the quality of education for students in every classroom,” Dawn Etcheverry, the association’s president, said in a July 1 statement.
- The union said school districts use the funds to pay for educator salaries, fulfill vendor contracts, purchase curriculum and technology, and more.
- “These particular grants provide services to some of our most vulnerable students, this includes after-school opportunities, English Learner supports, and other academic enrichment programs,” Ebert said.
- The Office of Management and Budget, a federal agency, said Wednesday that no decision had been made about the future of the funds.
- Ebert said the CCSD was working with politicians and the Nevada Department of Education to determine the next steps. The Nevada department said it would be in contact with school districts moving forward as it learned more information.
- Nevada’s nearly $1 billion in federal education funding also has been called into question given Trump’s repeated pledge to abolish the U.S. Department of Education.
- The department cannot legally be closed without Congress’ approval, but Trump’s March executive order directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely.”