During Wednesday’s school committee meeting, officials expressed uncertainty about the future of federal grants and federally funded programs within the Newton Public School (NPS) district’s budget.

On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled U.S. House approved the proposal for the federal government’s congressional budget. If approved, Congress would have to cut $2 trillion in federal spending to pay for a $4.5 trillion tax cut.

“In total, we get approximately $6 million in federal grant money,” said Liam Hurley, the district’s assistant superintendent and chief financial officer, during an update to the school committee on the district’s budget.

The district’s largest source of federal funding comes from the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Title 1 grants.

The IDEA grant funds programs for students with special education needs in public schools, ensuring that these services are given to families cost-free.

Title 1 grants provide funding for supplemental education programs that help academically struggling students meet the state’s educational standards

Lincoln-Eliot Elementary and Bigelow Middle School both tap into these funds for programming.

According to the Department of Secondary Education’s website, NPS received $493,655 in Title 1 grants and $3,495,423 in IDEA grants for fiscal year 2025.

“Do we need to build out any kind of contingency [plans] for those?” asked Ward 1 member Rajeev Parlikar.

“This is exactly what we’re worried about,” said Superintendent Anna Nolin.

She said that a potential loss of this federal funding could be “devastating” to the NPS district and every public school district in the country.

According to Hurley, the district also receives approximately $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, as well as reimbursement from the state.

The program allows the district to provide one free meal for all students, regardless of their families’ financial situation.

Hypothetically, if funding at the state or federal level got pulled, Hurley said that the district could make this meal paid.

“I don’t have any other insight or information into if that would happen or not, but there’s a lot of things on the table right now coming out of D.C.,” he said.

It’s unclear what exactly is on the chopping block in terms of federally funded educational programs, as the congressional spending bill is yet to be finalized.

If the House’s proposal is passed, it would mandate that the Education and Workforce Committee cut at least $330 billion in spending.