The government shutdown has cut off funds for some school systems that rely on federal money for the bulk of their budgets.
In Chinle, Arizona, financial distress caused by the government shutdown has led to the suspension of after-school programs, including some that students rely on for meals.
Federal money makes up only a small part of most school budgets in the U.S. But at Chinle Unified School District — spread across 4,200 square miles in the heart of Navajo Nation — half of the revenue comes from a single federal program, called Impact Aid.
Most school districts rely largely on local property taxes to fund teacher salaries and building upgrades. But school districts like Chinle that include Native American reservations, military bases or other federal compounds have fewer options for raising local taxes for education. Federal land isn’t taxable, and the government holds most reservation land in trust for Native tribes, so it can’t be taxed, either.
Instead, the federal government contributes $1.6 billion a year in Impact Aid to those schools. But that money is on hold this year, with payments suspended by the shutdown, leaving schools to ax some programs and weigh how long they can go without deeper cuts.
“The kids maybe are going home and not eating, because these are the only three meals they may get in a day,” said Quincy Natay, Chinle’s superintendent. “All of those programs are on hold and we’re looking at, ‘What programs can we eliminate?’”
Food aid for families has also been disrupted by the shutdown. Two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to use contingency funding to pay out Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, but the government warned it could take weeks or longer to restart partial payments.
