This story by Lisa Scagliotti was first published in the Waterbury Roundabout on April 28, 2026.
A stalemate between the federal government and the states over education funding owed since the pandemic has seen a breakthrough.
On Monday, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced that the U.S. Department of Education has released $11.58 million in federal K-12 funding for 20 Vermont school districts and the Vermont Agency of Education.
The funding, promised since the Covid-19 pandemic, has been delayed for more than a year, said Sanders, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
The money headed to Vermont is owed to 20 school districts, the state Agency of Education and one mental health services provider. Burlington School District is receiving the most at just under $3.9 million; Springfield is getting $1.3 million; Milton is owed just over $1 million. The Education Agency is to receive $1.63 million.
“After a year of needless delay from the Trump administration, Vermont school districts will finally receive federal funding for summer and after-school programs, school renovations and other critical services,” Sanders said in a statement. “At a time when so many of our school districts are suffering and struggling economically, this is an important step forward.”
The hangup with the funding began in March 2025 when the Trump administration canceled an estimated $2.5 billion in education dollars to the states, including about $17 million for Vermont. The funding initially was promised to K-12 schools under the American Rescue Plan Act during the pandemic. The cancellation came with a new “burdensome appeals process for states and school districts to reapply for money they had been promised,” according to Sanders’ statement.
Last June, the Education Department said it would release the funds following intervention by Sanders, who directly urged Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reverse the move. Court decisions also landed, directing the administration to release the funds as originally promised. The Education Department assured Sanders that the funding was forthcoming, but another multistep process was put in place for school districts to navigate.
Another complication was that federal Education Department employees who managed this portion of education funding were fired in March 2025 as part of an effort to downsize the federal agency.
It was only in April that Sanders’ office received confirmation from the Department of Education that a total of $11.58 million was being sent to Vermont to reimburse schools for essential activities such as summer and after-school programs, school renovations, teacher training, literacy and math coaches, and mental health programs.
At Harwood Unified Union School District, the funding was to cover costs for summer school programs in 2024. The district has since discontinued the programs, but the delay in reimbursement from the federal government meant the district needed to use money from its reserve fund otherwise intended for building upkeep. Harwood Superintendent Mike Leichliter on Monday said it was “a big relief” to get the news that the delayed funding was finally on its way to the Vermont school districts. Finance Manager Lisa Estler reported to the school board on April 8 that the district has received the funds.
Sanders’ office shared a breakdown of the districts that were to receive the funds:
- Burlington School District: $3,884,414
- Caledonia Central Supervisory Union: $149,375
- Central Vermont Career Center School: $70,605
- Central Vermont Supervisory Union: $287,677
- Essex North Supervisory Union: $81,777
- Franklin Northeast Supervisory Union: $1,220
- Hartford Town School District: $32,410
- Harwood Unified Union School District: $502,261
- Kingdom East Unified Union: $461,707
- Lamoille North Supervisory Union: $30,961
- Milton Town School District: $1,031,840
- Mount Mansfield Unified Union: $74,370
- Orange East Supervisory Union: $26,475
- Orange Southwest Unified Union: $154,246
- Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union: $232,834
- Rutland City School District: $420,371
- Springfield Town School District: $1,314,475
- Two Rivers Supervisory Union: $13,575
- Washington County Mental Health Services: $10,357
- Windham Northeast Supervisory Union: $606,769
- Windham Southwest Supervisory Union: $556,979
- Vermont Agency of Education: $1,630,836
