BURLINGTON –Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced that the Department of Education has released $11.58 million in federal K-12 COVID-19 funding for 20 Vermont school districts and the Agency of Education, after over a year of delay.
Included in the funding are $232,834 in funds for Orleans Southwest Supervisory Union (OSSU). And $149,375 for Caledonia Central Supervisory Union.
“After a year of needless delay from the Trump administration, Vermont school districts will finally receive federal funding for summer and afterschool programs, school renovations and other critical services. At a time when so many of our school districts are suffering and struggling economically, this is an important step forward,” Sanders said.
OSSU Superintendent Dr. David Baker reported “the state had already reimbursed us for these funds and now the federal release is just making the state whole.”
Those funds helped support after school and summer enrichment programming; the We R Hope program facilitating student readiness for learning by helping them learn how to cope with and manage anxiety; Music Education Artist Residency with Burlington Taiko at Craftsbury; facilities items for safe and healthy schools: duct cleaning, standby generator, controls maintenance and floor scrubbers; flexible seating for classrooms based on needs assessment; The Regulated Classroom professional development supporting teachers with classroom management and implementation of the Bookworms reading program.
In March 2025, the Trump administration canceled an estimated $2.5 billion nationwide, including about $17 million for Vermont in unspent funding for K-12 schools provided under the American Rescue Plan Act that had already been approved for states to spend and created a burdensome appeals process for states and school districts to reapply for money they had been promised.
Sanders urged Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reverse this decision on multiple occasions and ultimately secured her commitment that Vermont schools would receive the funding they were due. Courts also ruled against the Trump administration’s illegal withholding of the funds. The department assured the senator that the funding would be released in June of last year, but has forced the state through a months-long process to release funds. As part of the Trump administration’s actions to dismantle the Department of Education, the staff who managed these federal funds were fired in March 2025, further delaying the funds from reaching Vermonters.
This month, Sanders finally received confirmation from the Department of Education that a total of $11.58 million in funding has been 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.
