Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has followed through on his mission to cut federal spending. His actions have included funding cuts from universities like Columbia and Johns Hopkins, the signing of an executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, and the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, according to the New York Times.
“I never thought I would be living when they dismantle the Department of Education,” said Amber Woodward, Career Technical Education coordinator. “It’s very disheartening, because I know it’s gonna hurt kids.”
Mike Mathiesen, the associate superintendent of business services, said MVLA will receive around $1.6 million in federal funding for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, making up only around 1% of the total funding.
He said this funding is composed of an assortment of title funds and grants as well as close to $1 million from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, for the special education department. The remainder of the school’s funding comes from state funds, Mathiesen said.
As the school is not heavily reliant on federal funding according to Mathiesen, most programs would not be affected in the short term. However, many MVHS staff said they worried for schools in other districts that are more reliant on federal funds.
“I think we would be pretty much okay here,” said Bryan Barnhart, MVHS Universal Meals Program and Free and Reduced Lunch Program coordinator. “I would worry more about lower-income districts either in the inner city or in rural areas, they would be impacted more by federal funding cuts than MVLA would.”
Programs such as the CTE pathways at MVHS depend on funding from various federal grants, Woodward said. The rest of the funding comes from grants managed by the California Department of Education. However, Woodward said she is nervous about the future of these grants, citing the California support for diversity, equity, and inclusion which is in opposition to recent federal removals of DEI in agencies.
“What’s going to happen when California says we’re not going to get rid of our DEI and we push back?” Woodward said.
She fears pushback towards the federal government might cause the federal government to freeze funds towards California, affecting even state-managed grants.
Principal Dr. Kip Glazer said that while direct funding will remain largely unimpacted, students will feel the impacts of the Trump administration’s actions in other ways.
One example she gave are a handful of Principal’s Tech Interns who participated in the Digital Wellbeing Challenge hosted by the Department Of Education on AI literacy, which was recently put on hold with the possibility of no more funding.
“That’s happening all across the United States, that these programs that have had positive impacts on students and communities are being either put on hold, put on hold indefinitely, or canceled completely,” Glazer said.
While MVHS as a school will remain largely unaffected, many students and families are anticipating impacts in other ways. For the seniors who are looking to further their education after graduation, many universities are already feeling the impacts.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the Trump administration cut $400 million of federal funding to Columbia University on Mar. 7, to “combat anti-semitism” and address “inaction” by the university.
Senior Mia Ravishankar, who will attend Columbia next year, said the funding that was cut was directed towards a multitude of research and academic initiatives that she was hoping to engage in.
“Columbia has certain [guaranteed] spots in research departments, so that freshmen always have the opportunity to take part in research,” Ravishankar said. “But with limited funding available, I don’t know if that would be a possibility.”
Senior Mark Mukminov said most of his academic extracurriculars have relied on federal funding, from the previous programs he has attended, such as the National Security Language Initiative, to the scholarships he is depending on for his next years, including the Pell and Cal Grants. Pell Grants are federally funded scholarships for students and have so far not been eliminated. Cal Grants are funded by the California Student Aid Commission.
“If those were to be cut, my tuition would go from free right now to almost $20,000 which would be quite unaffordable,” Mukminov said.
In the case that he loses his scholarship money, Mukminov said he would probably have to take out student loans or work full time, neither of which would be ideal.
Mukminov said he is more concerned for students who are going to California state schools like the University of California schools, which if defunded, would drop in education quality.
Administrators said that as a school, MVHS will be more conscious of spending and work to take care of current resources.
“We’re lucky here that we’re in a very affluent area and that we’re okay right now,” Woodward said. “But what’s gonna happen in the future? I don’t know. There’s no guarantees at all.”
