by Emily Fitzgerald, Washington State Standard
School will continue as normal for Washington’s K-12 students amidst the federal government shutdown, at least for now.
Most federal funding for K-12 education is provided in advance, so schools still have access to it during the shutdown, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction confirmed this week.
Existing grants and contracts that don’t require involvement from federal staff will also continue as normal.
Programs and services that do require involvement from the U.S. Department of Education, like internet connectivity programs, technical assistance, reviews of civil rights complaints and implementing new grants, however, will likely experience interruptions. The department has furloughed about 95% of its staff.
Child nutrition programs, including school lunch, breakfast and snack programs, will also continue as normal until further notice.
The food programs are probably fully funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the next three months, state officials say, but the Department of Agriculture has not released information about its current shutdown plan.
“Programs are entitled to reimbursement for meals served during a shutdown, but there is a potential for payments to be delayed until a funding bill is passed,” the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s child nutrition team said in an email to school nutrition directors this week.
Head Start, a federally funded program for kids ages 3 to 5, is also operating as usual for the time being.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has the authority to make decisions about Head Start programs during a government shutdown, but the department has yet to release guidance on how Head Start will function during the shutdown.
A spokesperson for the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP, a nonprofit composed of representatives from Head Start and the state Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, confirmed Thursday that all Head Start locations in Washington were open.
The association is concerned about negative impacts the shutdown could have on seven Head Start grantees in Washington whose current annual contracts expire at the end of the month.
Head Start operates on a federal grant system, with organizations like schools and nonprofits receiving grants from the U.S. Department of Education to run the program.
Washington has a total of 50 Head Start grantees, serving about 20,000 kids.
Contracts would typically be worked out long before they expire, but due to delays caused by federal layoffs at the Head Start Office this spring, the batch of contracts set to renew Nov. 1 wasn’t approved before the shutdown — meaning those grantees have no guarantee that they’ll be funded past Oct. 31.
“I think what will happen is they will try and continue to operate,” said Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP Deputy Director Katy Warren. “The question is, how long can they do that for, if they don’t have any money coming in?”
Republished with permission. Read the original article.
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