Federal Programs
Weekly Brief
Curated intelligence for district federal program leads
Provided by EnchantED LLC
As of May 21, OMB Still Has Not Released $2 Billion in Education Grants — Expiration Clock Now Under Four Months
Education Week’s updated analysis of OMB apportionment documents confirms that as of May 21, the White House Office of Management and Budget has still not released FY2026 funding for approximately 33 competitive grant programs at the Education Department. More than $1 billion of this currently unapportioned funding will automatically expire and return to the U.S. Treasury by September 30 if not released — an outcome federal budget experts say would constitute a violation of the Impoundment Control Act. OMB Director Russell Vought has publicly stated his belief that the impoundment ban is unconstitutional. The administration has launched grant competitions for 11 of the affected programs but cannot issue new awards using the frozen funds until OMB apportions them. A court order from last fall requires OMB to continue publishing apportionment documents; the Protect Democracy nonprofit is tracking compliance via the OpenOMB portal.
Indiana districts holding competitive grants in any of the 33 affected programs — including Comprehensive Centers, American History and Civics, and other targeted programs — should not assume grant competitions mean funds are available; OMB must separately apportion money before ED can issue awards. Districts waiting on a competitive grant award under an affected program should contact their program officer and confirm whether the specific competition has apportioned funds available. Document all correspondence. If you have a current award and are experiencing delays in drawdown approvals, escalate to your IDOE program contact and seek legal counsel on documentation strategy.
HELP Committee Chairman Cassidy Loses Louisiana Primary — Senate Education Oversight Landscape Shifts
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, lost his primary election on May 16 in a stunning defeat, placing third behind Trump-backed Rep. Julia Letlow and state Treasurer John Fleming, who will advance to a June 27 runoff. Cassidy — one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump following January 6, 2021 — had been a consistent, if sometimes critical, voice for maintaining federal education program funding. He will remain in office for the remainder of his term, and it is not yet clear who will succeed him as HELP Committee chair. The race marks the first time a sitting senator has lost a primary since 2017.
Cassidy’s departure removes one of the more independent Republican voices on the HELP Committee who had pushed back on parts of the administration’s education agenda, including graduate loan limits. A successor from the Trump-aligned wing of the Republican caucus could reduce Senate friction on future program eliminations, MEGA Grant proposals, and HELP Committee oversight of ED’s restructuring. For Indiana districts, watch for any changes in committee hearing schedules and HELP Committee staff priorities in fall 2026, when FY2027 appropriations negotiations will heat up. No immediate operational changes result from this loss, but the policy environment for program preservation advocacy in the Senate shifts meaningfully.
Federal Court Denies Injunction Against ICE Activity Near Schools — Lawsuit Moves Forward as Attendance Impacts Mount
A federal judge in Minnesota denied a preliminary injunction sought by Duluth and Fridley Public Schools and the Education Minnesota teachers union that would have blocked ICE enforcement activity on or near school grounds. Judge Laura Provinzino ruled on May 6 that the plaintiff districts were unlikely to establish standing, finding that the 2025 DHS guidance rescinding “sensitive locations” protections did not itself direct enforcement at schools — only changed DHS’s “willingness” to conduct such activity. The case moves forward on the merits. ICE activity near schools had already been tracked in at least 13 documented instances nationally since January 2025, including an incident in Minneapolis where Border Patrol deployed chemical irritants on students and staff outside Roosevelt High School.
This ruling is directly relevant to Indiana districts serving immigrant student populations. ICE no longer has a categorical prohibition against activity near school grounds, and no additional legal protection is currently in place. Indiana districts should: (1) review and update their site access policies, designating visitor check-in areas as restricted to those without valid judicial warrants; (2) brief building staff on what to do when federal agents present at school — including requesting identification and any warrants; (3) update emergency contact information for all students, particularly those who may have undocumented family members; and (4) document any incidents for legal review. Title I and McKinney-Vento homeless education funds may be used to support wraparound services and community trust-building for affected families. Consult your district’s legal counsel for site-specific guidance.
New Data Confirms Immigration Enforcement Is Driving Measurable Attendance Drops and Learning Loss — Title I Implications for Districts
New research published by the Brookings Institution and analysis from multiple district-level datasets confirms that immigration enforcement operations near schools are producing measurable attendance drops — particularly among Latino students and English learners. Studies of enforcement operations in California found that immigration arrests were linked to significant declines in student achievement, attendance, and school climate measures. In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, a single multi-agency enforcement operation caused attendance to drop by roughly one in five students — approximately a 14% decline from regular attendance rates — for that week. Research across multiple studies documents that these effects extend beyond the week of enforcement, with sustained impacts on test scores and enrollment.
For Indiana districts with significant EL or immigrant student populations, chronic absenteeism triggered by immigration enforcement can affect Title I school performance metrics, ESSA accountability designations, and AMAOs under Title III. Districts experiencing unusual attendance dips among EL or Latino student populations should document the timing and context carefully — this data may be relevant to future ESSA waiver requests, federal monitoring responses, or civil rights documentation. McKinney-Vento liaisons should also monitor whether enforcement-related displacement is causing new homelessness among affected families, which would trigger additional enrollment and service obligations.
Education Week Publishes Full List of 33 Programs With Blocked FY2026 Apportionments — Comprehensive Centers Among Them
Education Week published a comprehensive tracker this week identifying all 33 Education Department competitive grant programs for which OMB has released little or no FY2026 funding. The list includes the Comprehensive Centers Program (critical for school improvement technical assistance), American History and Civics Education programs, Promise Neighborhoods, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers (afterschool programming). Notably, the department has issued grant competitions for 11 of these programs — but cannot complete awards without OMB apportioning the funds. The tracker is being updated using the Protect Democracy OpenOMB transparency portal and court-ordered disclosure documents.
Indiana districts with active 21st CCLC grants should confirm their current-year drawdown status is current and contact their state program officer if experiencing any unusual delays. Districts engaged in school improvement activities that rely on Comprehensive Center technical assistance should be aware their center may face mid-cycle funding disruption when current contracts expire. Cross-reference any pending competitive grant awards your district is awaiting against this tracker — if your program appears on the list, the award timeline may be indefinitely delayed regardless of whether your application is technically approved.
IDOE EL Leadership Meeting Held May 21 — EL Reclassification, AMAO Documentation, and Federal Program Guidance Covered
IDOE’s Office of English Learning and Migrant Education hosted its virtual EL Leadership Meeting on May 21, the first session under the new Microsoft Teams webinar format requiring registration. The session covered timely EL topics including WIDA ACCESS score interpretation for reclassification decisions, updates to AMAO documentation requirements for the 2025–26 reporting year, and an overview of Indiana’s current EL program landscape given the dismantling of OELA at the federal level. The final hour was an open Q&A for EL coordinators and administrators. Recordings and materials are expected to be posted to the Indiana EL Professional Development Opportunities Calendar.
Title III coordinators who were unable to attend the May 21 session should access the recording and materials as soon as they are posted — AMAO documentation and reclassification decisions are both time-sensitive for the 2025–26 school year close-out. With OELA dismantled, IDOE’s EL team is now the primary technical assistance resource for Indiana EL compliance questions. The next EL Leadership Meeting date has not yet been announced; monitor IDOE’s EL Professional Development Calendar. If your district has unresolved Title III compliance questions stemming from the federal transition, contact IDOE’s Office of English Learning and Migrant Education directly.
SEED and TSL Competitive Grant Deadlines Now Two Weeks Out — GrantSolutions Registration Remains the Critical First Step
Two major competitive grant deadlines are now within two weeks: the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) FY2026 grant closes June 1 (11:59 p.m. ET), and the Teacher and School Leader (TSL) Incentive Program closes June 9 — both submitted through DOL’s GrantSolutions platform, not Grants.gov. Both programs were issued through the ED-DOL Elementary and Secondary Education Partnership and awards will be administered by DOL. Applicants who have not yet registered on GrantSolutions (grantsolutions.gov) should do so immediately, as the system requires a separate registration from SAM.gov and Grants.gov, and processing time can vary.
The platform shift to GrantSolutions is real and non-negotiable — applications submitted through Grants.gov for SEED or TSL will not be accepted. Confirm that your district’s authorized representative has an active GrantSolutions account and that the application package is in final draft. For SEED, the notice of intent to apply (email to [email protected]) should already be on file; for TSL, verify your SAM.gov registration is still active as it remains a prerequisite for organizational eligibility even under GrantSolutions. Both grants reflect the administration’s priorities for career pathways, educator effectiveness, and literacy — align your narrative accordingly for the strongest application.
Ten days remaining. Applications must be complete in GrantSolutions — not Grants.gov. Strong fit for districts with educator pipeline, career pathways, or literacy initiatives. Four absolute priorities and three competitive preference priorities apply; review the Federal Register notice and ANI under opportunity number DOL-OESE-33914.
Final editing and internal approvals should be complete now. Confirm GrantSolutions account is active, SAM.gov registration is current, and your authorized organization representative (AOR) has signing authority in GrantSolutions. Do not submit through Grants.gov — it will not be accepted.
Active grantees: ten days remain — this report should be in final review now. Non-grantees: continue building your psychologist-to-student ratio and mental health need documentation. Given the OCR backlog, districts documenting student mental health needs are also building a record that may matter for civil rights compliance if complaints arise.
Indiana districts with TSI or CSI-identified schools should confirm whether their school appears on the current eligible list and check eCivis for any open application window. Given the frozen status of federal Comprehensive Centers funding, locally-funded school improvement supports like Next Gen SIG become more critical as a bridge resource. Title I school improvement set-aside funds may also be coordinated with this grant.
When Attendance Falls for Political Reasons: How Federal Program Coordinators Should Respond
Federal program administrators are not crisis counselors, immigration attorneys, or law enforcement liaisons — but when immigration enforcement activity drives attendance down among the students your Title I and Title III programs are designed to serve, the compliance and reporting consequences land squarely on your desk. This week’s new Brookings data and the Minnesota court ruling together signal that this is a sustained, structural challenge, not a temporary disruption.
Three things federal program coordinators should do now: First, flag any unusual attendance drops among EL and Latino student subgroups to your ESSA accountability team. Attendance is a leading indicator in Indiana’s A–F accountability model, and sustained drops can affect both school grades and ESSA identification status. Document the timing, scope, and any contextual notes about local enforcement activity — this creates a record that supports future waiver requests or federal monitoring responses.
Second, brief your McKinney-Vento liaison on the possibility that enforcement-related displacement — family members detained, housing disrupted, students moved to relatives in other districts — can create McKinney-Vento eligibility. Students experiencing homelessness as a result of enforcement activity are entitled to immediate enrollment, school of origin stability, and all McKinney-Vento protections. Your liaison should be equipped to identify and respond to these cases.
Third, review your Title I parent engagement plan. If ICE activity is causing families to disengage from school communications and events, that is a barrier to the “meaningful involvement” required under ESSA. Updating your outreach strategy — including multilingual communication, community-trusted messengers, and explicit statements about district policy regarding student privacy and federal agents — is both a compliance step and a trust-building one.
Watch for any court filing or congressional hearing forcing OMB to apportion the frozen $2 billion in education grants before September 30 — the window for legal action is narrowing. The SEED grant closes June 1 and TSL closes June 9; these are the two biggest active federal education grant opportunities for Indiana districts right now. Indiana districts should watch for IDOE’s updated IDEA Part B allocation notice following OSEP approval of Indiana’s FFY2026 application. Also monitor for any update on the status of the Midwest Comprehensive Center competition, which was posted May 8–11 and will determine the primary technical assistance resource for Indiana school improvement in the coming years.