On Friday afternoon, the U.S. Department of Education announced it was releasing nearly $5.5 billion in grant funds that pay for a wide variety of services, such as teacher training, migrant education, English language instruction, academic enrichment and adult education.
For the last month, districts across the nation were struggling to make up the shortfall, not knowing if or when the money would be released.
Local school leaders were drafting contingency plans and allocating leftover funds to continue providing some of the services to students.
But now Tampa Bay area school districts and the larger community are breathing a sigh of relief.
"Pinellas County Schools (PCS) welcomes today’s announcement from the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget directing the release of federal education grants—including nearly $9 million that were paused for PCS," the district wrote in a statement.
At a forum Thursday night, leaders of the Pinellas County School District implored hundreds of community members in attendance to contact state and federal officials about the funding freeze.
About 47 positions, including 13 ESOL teachers, were going to be affected if the money didn't come through, according to Pinellas School Superintendent Kevin Hendrick.
"Advocacy efforts from the community have been heard and PCS will now integrate these funds into the 2025-26 budget to support students and teachers as originally designed," read the statement.
School board chair Laura Hine emphasized the importance of continuing to advocate for public schools.
"When Florida’s legislative session starts, we must let our elected state officials know how important school funding is," Hine said in a statement. "These are our tax dollars; we believe in our schools and want them to be funded properly."
Polk County Schools superintendent Fred Heid also responded to the funding release.
"This funding provides necessary support for students throughout our district. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to continue our life-changing work made possible by this federal funding," Heid sent in a statement.
The freeze had put nearly $20 million for Polk County Schools at risk, including 125 grant-funded positions.
In Pasco County, $6 million was in jeopardy.
For Hillsborough, the seventh-largest district in the nation, $24 million was at stake.
The U.S. Department of Education notified state leaders a day before the grant money was supposed to be disbursed on July 1 that the funds were under review to ensure spending was in line with the new administration's priorities.
Pressure came from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers. A coalition of 24 states and education groups across the country took legal action against the Trump administration.
Last week, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released about $1.4 billion after completing its review— that money goes towards before and after- school programs.
Until Friday, no timeline was given about the rest of the money.
Now, according to an NPR report, OMB "has directed the [Education] Department to release all formula funds. The agency will begin dispersing funds to states next week."
At Thursday's forum in Pinellas, school families, teachers and community members voiced their concerns for the programs at risk.
Maria Gosart, a school counselor for San Jose Elementary, said federal funds for professional development is the reason why their school improved from a B to an A rating in the past year.
"All of these new programs and things that have been making our schools so wonderful ... we want to keep those, we don't want to go backwards," said Gosart.
She said training programs have helped teachers learn new instructional techniques that directly benefit kids in the classroom.
"We're here for the kids," said Gosart. "We want to see them graduate elementary school. Our goal is to see them walk across the stage, and see them succeed in middle school and beyond.
