ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The dismantling of the Department of Education is underway after President Donald Trump’s executive order earlier this week.
Education officials and school boards are preparing to navigate new waters.
Anything from funding to school lunches could be impacted across the country. That includes funding for students with disabilities, which the president designated the Department of Health and Human Services to take on Thursday afternoon.
For more than 75 years, the Mary Cariola Center has been an 853 school, which means local districts send children there to get the extra support they need.
“Our funding comes from the school districts, but some of their funding to provide comes from federal monies that are passed through," Christine Sheffer, the superintendent of schools at for the Mary Cariola Center, said. "Some of those grants come directly to us from the district and sometimes we see it in our tuition package. So what we're worried about is that we're already very financially conservative and even a 10% cut would be problematic for us."
Sheffer says the unknowns of the new developments in President Trump’s executive order are concerning.
“People could be furloughed, laid off. The ability of the department to do their job is that question. And then longer. Where do the parts end up? Where does the part of the Department of Education that provides and enforces rules around special education?” she said. “We don't know what that will mean. We also don't know how that will coexist with things like Medicaid and education.”
She says the school has many contingency plans to stay afloat, but the center does host fundraisers throughout the year that it may need to rely more on for support in the future.
“Long-term cuts would mean that as a school that some of our own fundraising is more dependent upon members of the community to support the work we do,” said Sheffer. “We've been watching this for some time. Any week in any year on any day, we are watching political implications. We're watching changes in rules and regulations, changes in community and community need. So it wasn't a surprise to us and we were able to go, 'OK. Plan B might work, or Plan C.'"
She says the center already utilizes a conservative budget by prioritizing its staff.
“Kids with highly individualized needs need highly skilled teachers. So that money is important,” she said. “Many of our services are mandated by students' [Individualized Education Programs]. So if I need 25 speech therapists to deliver those services, it’s mandated, that's not a place I can cut the budget. I cannot cut services to students. I can cut in areas like, oh, somebody needs a new swing. Do we really need a new swing, or can we move one from over here to over there? And so making do with without you have, much like you might do in our own family.”
Trump says the executive order will provide a solution that will elevate the United States’ education system to be “comparable, or even better than,” the top five global rankings, including Denmark and Sweden.
“What we know is that there is a question about, will the rights of students with disabilities be protected? One example might be if money goes to the state as, say, a block grant, and the state has more flexibility in how it's used, the way it's used in New York might be different than the way it's used in Maryland or Utah. And, as somebody who thinks about all the kids who are served, that may be problematic,” Sheffer said.
She says she plans on awaiting more guidance from the state and adds that she appreciates the support of the governor and many local legislators.
“The answers I'm looking for are guidance from the state on what will happen, and not necessarily in the next year, but in the following year, because from so many of our students, their IEPs for next year are already being developed. We already work on kind of a rolling 12-month calendar, but what happens that following year? Those are the questions that are keeping all of the leadership at Mary Cariola up at night,” she said.
As the center, among many other districts and organizations across the country, awaits clarity from the Department of Health and Human Services, Sheffer says one thing will not be changing.
“The one thing that won't change is our dedication to the students and the individuals we serve in our group homes and our other programs and to their families,” she smiled.
