Savannah-Chatham County Public School System Superintendent Denise Watts shared this past Sunday at Tremont Temple Missionary Baptist Church before the NAACP Savannah Branch that the federal government had finally released all funds that had been impounded for Fiscal Year 2025-2026.
The release be the U.S. Department of Education (ED) happened on Friday, July 25, and, according to Watts, came with no explanation. “We spent a whole month scrambling, trying to figure out what we were going to do,” she said. According to her, teachers and staff were reaching out to see if they would still have a job. “We had a whole plan laid out,” she said. “And on Friday, they [federal officials] said, ‘Don’t worry about it, you get your money,'” she told Sunday’s NAACP meeting attendees.
She said that while the impoundment was frustrating, the district was glad the funds had finally been released. The funds had initially been approved by Congress in March as part of $45 billion nation-wide spending for K-12 public education. Roughly $6.2 billion, however, had been withheld from states, including Georgia, since July 1.
An initial release of crucial after-school program funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers occurred on Monday, July 21. The other funding, however, remained impounded until last Friday. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers funding, however, has not been included in the fiscal year 2026 budget approved by Congress’s vote on the One Big Beautiful Bill, which significantly impact the program’s ability to operate starting next school year.
The funds released July 25 by the ED included grants for migrant education, supporting effective instruction through educator training, English Language acquisition, and student support and academic enrichment programs. Savannah-Chatham school district officials had previously stated that the district does not receive Title I, Part C (migrant education) funds. Prior to publication, district officials had not yet responded to an inquiry made earlier this week into why it does not receive these funds.
Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com and JoeInTheKnow_SMN on Instagram.