Middletown City Schools said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Education has abruptly recalled $5.6 million in previously promised pandemic relief funding, potentially leaving the school district in a monumental financial hole.
Under the Biden administration, the Department of Education had offered extensions to state and local school systems to use remaining relief funding. In late March, Middletown — along with other school districts in Ohio and around the country — was notified by the department's new leadership that the extension was getting cut short immediately, and they'd have to make do without those previously promised dollars.
Middletown's superintendent, Deborah Houser, says that's not an option for her district. Middletown was approved for $6.7 million toward a project to build a new bus garage and maintenance facility to improve its student transportation system.
Work on the new facility began this year after the school received $1.2 million from the federal government to initiate the project. Houser says the project is about 40% complete, but without the rest of what it was supposed to receive, Middletown Schools could be in trouble.
The school district could stop construction, but that would mean sinking more than a million dollars into an unusable, unfinished building. If it continues building, Middletown would have to cut $5.6 million from its budget to make up for the lost cash.
"To a public school district, $5.6 million, that's not just some easy figure to come up with to complete the project. But we have to move forward," Houser told WVXU.
Local lawmakers respond
Middletown Schools is seeking support from Ohio's top lawmakers to claw the rescinded dollars back, but so far, they've only gotten attention from a few.
U.S. Representative Warren Davidson, Ohio State Senator George Lang from West Chester, and State Representative Thomas Hall from Madison Twp — all Republicans — have penned identical letters to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon asking the Department of Education reverse its decision and allow Middletown Schools to receive an extension of funding.
"As a fiscal conservative, I fully understand the need to cut unnecessary funding — and I am proud to have witnessed some of the brave steps the administration has taken so far. But there are some projects which are a good use of taxpayer funds, and that improve the basic quality of life for our children. This project is one of those," a portion of each letter read.
The letters were sent to McMahon over a month ago, and haven't appeared to sway the department from its original ruling.
Middletown City Schools says it also reached out to U.S. Senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, but neither has responded. The district also attempted to contact a 2003 graduate of Middletown High School and the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, but school leaders say they haven't heard a word from him either.
Superintendent Houser says Middletown is working with the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce (ODEW) to appeal the decision.
WVXU reached out to ODEW Thursday morning for more information about Middletown's loss of funds and other school districts in Ohio that were denied funding extensions, but did not receive a response.
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