Texas schools could face challenges due to government shutdown. Here's why

Silas Allen, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Sep 30, 2025

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Schools in Texas and nationwide could see dire consequences if the shutdown of the federal government stretches beyond a few days, education policy experts warn.

With most federal spending halted and most federal workers on unpaid leave until the shutdown ends, school districts across the country could see payments disrupted and low-income families losing food assistance if the impasse isn’t resolved quickly.

According to a U.S. Department of Education shutdown contingency plan released Sunday, about 95% of the department’s staff would be placed on furlough. The department would stop awarding new grants, but school districts and other grant recipients would still have access to any grant funding that was awarded over the summer, according to the plan. The department will also distribute funding through the Title I and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs as usual, according to the plan. Other responsibilities, including civil rights investigations, would be halted.

It’s unclear what impact Head Start early childhood programs would see. Those programs fall under the U.S. Department of Housing and Human Services. A contingency plan released by the department doesn’t list Head Start among the department’s programs that would continue uninterrupted. But officials with the National Head Start Association noted that the impact on those programs has generally been minimal during previous government shutdowns. Workers at Head Start centers aren’t classified as federal employees, meaning any furlough requirements wouldn’t apply to them.

But if the shutdown stretches beyond a few days, local school districts could see more serious impacts, said Blair Wriston, senior government affairs manager with the national education advocacy group Ed Trust. In an “extended, months-long” shutdown, districts could potentially see disruptions to the reimbursement payments they receive through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs, he said.

Disruptions to other programs that aren’t directly related to education could also have an impact on school districts, Wriston said. Benefits families receive through WIC, which gives food assistance to expectant mothers, new mothers and young children, and SNAP, which offers food assistance to low-income people, could be disrupted in an extended shutdown. Although those benefits go to families and not to schools, any interruption would have a major impact on students’ ability to learn, he said.

Shutdown comes amid doubts about federal school funding

The shutdown comes at a time when school leaders across the country were already losing confidence in the reliability of federal funding. At the end of June, Trump administration officials announced they planned to withhold $6.8 billion in federal grant money that Congress had already approved. Texas’ portion of the frozen grant money added up to $667 million, with about $10 million designated for the Fort Worth Independent School District. Districts use the grant money affected by the funding freeze to pay for a number of programs, including teacher training, after-school programs and programs for English language learners.

The administration eventually released that funding after bipartisan backlash and a legal challenge from a coalition of 24 states, plus the District of Columbia. But for many districts, the damage was already done. In response to the freeze, Fort Worth ISD cut contracts with outside vendors and paused its work with four community partner groups that provide services like college access help and mental health counseling for students.

During a webinar that took place shortly after the funding freeze ended, Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Karen Molinar said the district wouldn’t immediately refill the positions it froze while federal funding was on hold. If schools can no longer count on federal funding coming through as expected, the district can’t in good conscience keep hiring employees using federal grant money, knowing it may have to lay them off later, she said.