President Donald Trump set an unprecedented freeze on all federal grants to review the administration’s spending, making sure that they align with his executive orders. This freeze could temporarily affect trillions of dollars that fund initiatives such as health care research, education programs, and more. For Arcata High, many projects are funded through federal grants such as Indian education programs, the CATS program, along classroom instructors like social workers. So far, federal judges have blocked Trump’s attempts at this due to the freeze being unconstitutional and undermining the roles of the government branches, but every day things change, and something different can happen.
The funds granted to the Northern Humboldt Union High School District, which Arcata High is part of, are distributed on the first day of the program year. The district’s grants have not yet been affected by the current state of the matter, but according to the district’s grant writer, Jack Bareilles, “there’s just a lot of uncertainty.” Nothing like this has happened in the past before, making this a completely unprecedented situation with many people unsure about what will happen next.
Other institutions in the US have been the victim of this situation or have the potential to be. This includes things like public health or community outreach programs. Many college students who rely on financial aid are also heavily affected. Other recent updates on the topic of funding freezes, 35 million dollars in Title X funding was frozen by the Trump administration, starting on the 1st of April. This will affect many families, individuals, and nonprofit organizations.
In terms of schools, the Trump Administration has been suspending grants for things like research. Princeton, for example, had over 200 million dollars in research grants suspended due to possible antisemitism on campus. With acts like this continuing, many young people’s educations are being largely affected because of the limitation of opportunities that are being held back from grants and funding. The longer this continues, the harder it becomes for these institutions and for people to maintain their operations and support people who depend on them.
