Lee County Schools warned possible federal funding withholding could cost district about $1 million

Superintendent Dawson Buck told the Lee County Board of Education on an open-session agenda item that the federal government has taken actions that could withhold several federal education funding streams and that those decisions could “trickle down and impact Lee County.”

Buck said the potential withholdings include roughly $500,000 from Title II professional development funds, about $177,000 from Title III (English-language learners), just under $230,000 from Title IV (student enrichment and after‑school supports such as AIG), and a little over $118,000 from Title I‑C (migrant education). “So it is the potential loss of about a little over a million dollars for Lee County,” he said, adding the district was monitoring the situation and remained hopeful the funds would be released in some form.

The superintendent told the board the situation was not yet definitive. “I don't think this is a definite at this point. There's a lot of talk, but I just wanted you all to be aware,” Buck said. He said the district had anticipated some of the risk in budgeting and expected only “minor cuts” at worst: “We might have to have some growing pains, but we did anticipate some of this coming.”

Board members and staff framed the possible reductions as manageable but asked that the public be informed. The chair noted many items on the consent agenda represent services the district is legally required to provide regardless of funding and asked the board to approve those items so required services could continue.

The board did not take a formal vote tied specifically to the potential federal withholding; rather, members approved the consent agenda and discussed monitoring impacts as they develop. Buck said staff will continue to monitor and report back to the board and that the district tried to budget for contingencies.

Buck also used his report to note capital and operational items unrelated to the federal funds update. He said bleacher replacement work at Lee County High School’s visitor side would begin soon and is expected to finish before the football season, eliminating the need to rent temporary seating.

The board’s finance officer presented May financials showing the current fiscal year budget at $137,770,014.30 with year‑to‑date expenditures of $121,846,713.90 and an available balance of $15,923,300.40 as of May. Board members said those balances and pre‑planning should help the district weather shortfalls if needed.