Mississippi
‘Detrimental’ to school kids: MS education department set to lose $137M in COVID funds
“These are not just numbers on a spreadsheet; they represent critical services and supports that directly benefit our most vulnerable students.”
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The U.S. Department of Education announced an early liquidation of COVID-19 relief funds. Now, the Mississippi Department of Education and the state’s school districts are at risk of losing a collective $137 million.
On March 28, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon sent out a letter informing state education departments that COVID-19 relief funds, initially approved for a March 31, 2026, liquidation deadline, will end liquidation effective immediately.
For Mississippi, the new deadline would cause detrimental effects to the state’s students and educators, according to the Mississippi Department of Education, which is now asking the U.S. Department of Education to keep the original deadline.
Plans were already underway to use the funds to bridge COVID-19-related learning gaps. The funds were also meant to support school nurses, mental health, students experiencing homelessness and facility repairs and improvements, all of which were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The letter
Just over one page long, McMahon’s letter addressed to “State Chiefs of Education,” says after careful review, the U.S. Department of Education has decided to “modify” the liquidation time period under the Education Stabilization Fund.
The department will consider extensions on an individual project basis. Otherwise, the liquidation takes effect immediately.
The Education Stabilization Fund was implemented in March 2020 and has awarded more than $276 billion to states, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
In the past five years, Mississippi has used the Education Stabilization Fund to cover the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, American Rescue Plan Homeless funds and American Rescue Plan Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools funds.
According to the letter, the initial COVID-19 relief funds came with stipulation that all “financial obligations incurred” must be liquidated within 120 days after the conclusion of the performance period.
Since its inception in 2020, the U.S. Department of Education has approved several extensions to this 120 day deadline.
According to McMahon’s letter, the U.S. Department of Education feels COVID-19 relief grants have already been extended too far. The previously approved March 2026 deadline was set toward the end of the Biden administration, a decision the U.S. Department of Education is now calling unjustified.
“The Department has concluded that the further extension of the liquidation period for the aforementioned grants, already well past the period of performance, was not justified,” the letter reads. “You and your subrecipients have had ample time to liquidate obligations … Extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and this not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion.”
The letter states the U.S. Department of Education has inherent power to rescind prior decisions, and since the 2026 extension date was set recently, “any reliance interests developed are minimal.”
In other words, states have no reason to have relied on the extra year’s worth of funding, which the letter calls “administrative grace.”
The letter ends with instructions on applying for an individual project extension. States must submit an email listing, “(1) how a particular project’s extension is necessary to mitigate the effects of COVID on American students’ education, and (2) why the Department should exercise its discretion to grant your request.”
The response
Many state education departments, including the Mississippi Department of Education, are now calling for the U.S. Department of Education to reinstate the March 2026 deadline.
On April 2, Mississippi State Superintendent of Education Lance Evans sent McMahon a response letter. In four pages, Evans outlines the detrimental effects the year’s loss of funding would cause, especially since the decision was announced without prior notice.
“This unexpected change creates a severe hardship for Mississippi’s students, educators, and school communities,” Evans’ letter reads. “The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) received approval for our liquidation extension request based on demonstrated need and thorough documentation. Mississippi has been operating in good faith under the assurance that we could access these resources through March 31, 2026 for projects already obligated by the September 30, 2024, deadline.”
The letter states the Mississippi Department of Education has prior written authorization of $137,221,346 in funding, and the department is already deep into planning.
Millions of dollars have already been expensed in 66 school districts. If the new liquidation deadline holds, the U.S. Department of Education has not guaranteed to reimburse any previously approved expenses.
“The impact of this sudden reversal is detrimental to Mississippi students … These are not merely numbers on a spreadsheet; they represent critical services and supports that directly benefit our most vulnerable students,” the letter says.
Terminating the Education Stabilization Fund would effectively shut down “evidence-based learning recovery programs,” “critical infrastructure improvements,” “technology access and digital learning” and “mental health and student support services.”
The Mississippi Department of Education, according to an April 3 press release, is already working to guide districts in case the funds are not recovered. Several services and local construction projects are on pause.
“If funding is not restored, Mississippi school districts will be forced to default on payments to contractors and vendors that are currently under contract, which will result in litigation that will put additional burdens on school districts,” the letter says.
In the press release, Evans said he and his team believe the U.S. Department of Education has a legal obligation to keep the March 2026 deadline.
“Districts have contractual obligations that cannot simply be terminated without significant financial, educational, and legal consequences,” the press release states.
Funding loss
The liquidation of the Education Stabilization Fund is just the latest in a national trend of education federal funding cuts.
Scaling back the U.S. Department of Education — if not deleting it altogether — was one of President Donald J. Trump’s chief pledges on the 2024 campaign trail.
Since Trump announced McMahon’s nomination in November 2024, the former Connecticut Senate candidate and World Wrestling Entertainment Co-Founder has made it clear that she fully supports the president’s plan.
Mississippi public education has historically relied heavily on federal funding and programming. In the three months since Trump’s inauguration, public education, both K-12 and higher education, has felt a domino effect of federal funding cuts.
On Feb. 14, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to public colleges and universities to dismantle Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices or face federal funding cuts.
On March 14, public libraries lost federal funding after Trump signed an executive order called “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.” About 70 workers in the Institute of Museum and Library Services were suspended and grants were left unprocessed.
Federal funding cuts within education match patterns in other state offices. Earlier this week, the Mississippi Humanities Council received notice from the Department of Governmental Efficiency, headed by Elon Musk, that $1.5 million from the National Endowment for the Humanities was terminated.
The Mississippi Department of Education’s response reflects the disquiet many state offices are sensing throughout the nation, a feeling, Evans acknowledged, that trickles down to the local level.
“The MDE shares the same level of anxiety that districts are experiencing as a result of the ED’s decision,” Evans said.
Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com
Mississippi
Governor: At least 47 homes, 50 roads damaged by Mississippi storms, flooding – SuperTalk Mississippi
Gov. Tate Reeves has released updated damage assessments following the severe weather and flooding that inundated parts of southern Mississippi last week.
According to Reeves, assessments through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency are ongoing, and disaster aid is still being distributed through a mix of federal, state, and local agencies, along with nonprofits. But numbers as of Monday morning showed dozens of homes and businesses damaged and even more public roads affected.
Among the counties with significant impacts are Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Hancock, Jackson, Pearl River, Perry and Stone. Across those counties and others, at least 47 homes were affected, seven of which were completely destroyed. Nine businesses sustained damaged, six of which are considered major. One farm sustained major damage.
50 public roadways were affected, including four that are considered major and four that were completely destroyed. Two bridges sustained major damage, while two public buildings sustained minor damage.
Reeves said two rivers are in the moderate flood stage – Leaf River near McClain and the Pascagoula River at Graham Ferry.
15 other waterways are in the minor flood stage: Big Black River near Bentonia, Biloxi River near Lyman, Chickasawhay River at Enterprise, Chickasawhay River at Leakesville, East Hobolochitto Creek near Caesar, Pascagoula River at Merrill, Pearl River at Jackson, Pearl River near Pearl River, Pearl River near Philadelphia, Pearl River at Rockport, Strong River at D’Lo, Tallahala Creek at Laurel, Tuscolameta Creek at Laurel, West Hobolochitto Creek near McNeill, and Wolf River around Gulfport.
Damage reports could have worsened on Monday with additional rounds of severe weather in some parts of the state. The worst of the storms and floods came with the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Arthur late last week and into the weekend.
(AP) – A Mississippi family whose 1-year-old child was killed when police fired into a moving vehicle said Monday they want authorities to release video showing whether officers were in danger of being struck when one of them opened fire.
The shooting has sparked outrage in the small city of Senatobia, where some say it’s the latest in a series of troubling encounters between police and Black residents.
Kohen Wiley was riding with his mother and another woman in a Walmart parking lot on June 14 when police responded to a shoplifting call. The family says they were driving away, while the officers say the car was heading toward them.
“I watched my baby take his first breath, and I watched my baby take his last breath,” Vellesiya Wiley said at a news conference Monday.
The other woman in the car, whose name has not been released, suffered “critical injuries,” according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is handling the inquiry.
Standing alongside Kohen’s parents and grandparents at a local church, civil rights attorney Ben Crump told reporters Monday that the best way to determine whether the officers were at risk is to publicly release any body camera, dash camera or Walmart security camera video.
“If that is the truth, then show us that,” Crump said. “The longer you delay releasing the video, the more distrustful we become.”
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation declined to comment on what videos investigators have or whether they would be released, agency spokesperson Bailey Martin said Monday.
“This case has been made a top priority,” Martin said in an emailed statement, “and we currently have multiple agents working tirelessly to ensure every aspect of the investigation is thoroughly examined.”
The agency says the officers weren’t hurt. Senatobia Police Chief Harold Vanderford did not return a phone message seeking comment Monday.
State investigators gave an initial account of the shooting last week, saying that when Senatobia police arrived at the Walmart, they found two women and a child getting into a car and driving away.
“Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one. An officer then discharged their weapon and the vehicle fled the scene,” the agency statement said.
Kohen’s mother has said the shoplifting call was over a box of diapers that her friend was carrying — and that she believes her friend had paid for the diapers. State investigators declined to comment on those details.
Crump questioned why police didn’t let the car go and take down the license plate number.
“They were called over a box of diapers and a family now has to bury their baby,” Crump said Monday. “You cannot put those two things next to each other and call it reasonable policing.”
Crump also said an independent autopsy would be performed.
While there’s no question the child was shot by police, he said, details about the angles at which any bullets struck the child could yield clues as to whether the officer fired from in front of the car or off to the side — and therefore whether that officer was in any danger.
Policing expert Ian Adams, who teaches criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, told The Associated Press last week that police should know that “shooting into a moving vehicle is a very bad idea and one to be avoided at almost all costs,” noting the danger to passengers and other bystanders.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Six new members were inducted into the Mississippi Association Coaches Hall of Fame on Friday.
Five electees and one surprise honorary inductee announced at the evening’s end.
Each says the MAC HOF is a special one and this is the ultimate honor for a coach in Mississippi.
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