With DOE inert, parents fear special ed funding holdup

Federal special education funding remains. The people tasked with distributing it to school districts might not.

Acton school administrators are watching Washington. As staffing cuts hit federal agencies, parents say it’s time to prepare for a delay or decline in the schools’ largest source of grant funding out of D.C.

“When the federal government is unable or unwilling to provide adequate funding or oversight for special education, what cannot be cut is high-quality, evidence-based classroom, small-group, and one-to-one special education services,” parent Karin Maria Hodges told The Acton Bridge.

President Donald Trump has his sights set on dismantling the Department of Education, which manages annual Individuals with Disabilities Education Act payouts. Some staffers have already lost their jobs, and schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter has told the Finance Committee that experts feared the government won’t have the employees it needs to distribute cash.

IDEA represents the lion’s share of federal money running into Acton’s K-8 and high school coffers.

The Acton Public Schools got $551,676 through IDEA in the 2025 fiscal year; Acton-Carlisle High School got $450,289.

Hunter discussed IDEA in a mid-October FinCom session. “We are not hearing big alarm bells that the funding itself is jeopardized,” she said, but “the processing certainly sounds like it’s a little bit of a worry.”

In a November 7 update to The Bridge, Hunter reiterated through a spokesperson that “while there are no indications” that money is in jeopardy, uncertainty about funding and the Department of Education’s future mean “it is too early to project whether that will remain true.”

By the numbers

K-8 budget: $46,592,022  

K-8 IDEA grant: $551,676

High school budget: $39,374,907 

High school IDEA grant: $450,289

Source: Fiscal 2025 budget summaries

Planning ahead

Kristen Hagerty, an at-large member of the K-8 and high school Special Education Parent Advisory Council, or SEPAC, said students receiving special education services are “our most vulnerable learners.”

When Hunter presents her 2027 fiscal year plan to the School Committee, Hagerty said she hopes to hear “about how the proposed budget will address the anticipated funding loss so that there are no disruptions to services.”

“Even before funding gets held up,” Hodges told The Bridge, “the district would be wise to cut costs.”

Hodges — a former SEPAC board member — floated administrator salaries as one area to consider reductions.

While it’s not a massive part of the budget, losing IDEA funding could still sting. Hunter told the Finance Committee in February that the K-8 schools would have to hike spending by 1.2% to compensate, or slash seven to 10 staff positions.

A recorded message from the federal Department of Education’s press office said the office was “temporarily closed” when The Bridge called.

In a prior statement to The Bridge, Hunter said “budget development is still underway” and officials are focused on maintaining level service.