Jefferson County stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal education funding annually under President Donald Trump’s proposed budget.

That’s according to numbers from Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). 

While presidential budgets rarely pass Congress unchanged, they lay the groundwork for discussion and reflect the administration’s priorities. If adopted as proposed, the cuts would result in a $100 million loss in federal education support for Washington schools annually — equivalent to $95 per student per year — starting in the 2026-2027 school year. 

Jefferson County schools alone would see a loss of approximately $755,370. The impact would vary countywide, with federal funds making up between 3% and 37% of district budgets.

State Superintendent Chris Reykdal spoke out against the proposed cuts in a June 5 statement. “Cuts of this magnitude and with this focus on students who rely on additional support from the hard-working and passionate educators who serve them, is yet one more signal that this administration’s focus has little to do with the reality of student needs,” he wrote. “While keeping key programs largely intact, such as Title I (support for high poverty districts) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the President drastically reduced or completely eliminated several other programs that serve marginalized student populations and support students in their learning and educational success.” 

The proposed budget, published on May 30, would eliminate the Migrant Education Program, which provides high-quality education programs and support systems for migratory children, and English Language Acquisition, which helps students develop English language proficiency, Reykdal wrote. 

Several other programs — including professional learning for educators, before- and after-school programs, initiatives promoting equity in education and support for at-risk youth in institutions and school safety grants — would be combined and reduced by 70%, Reykdal wrote. School meal funding from the U.S. The Department of Agriculture may also see funding reductions.  

Rural schools could get hit especially hard, he wrote. 

“The dependence of our rural communities on the federal government has always been larger than in urban areas, and the proposed cuts demonstrate this outsized impact,” he wrote. “Schools in rural areas are often “community hubs” and budget cuts of this size have the potential to be absolutely devastating to communities and families around the state.” 

All six Jefferson County school districts — Brinnon, Chimacum, Port Townsend, Quilcene, Quillayute and Queets-Clearwater — would see cuts, with three of them seeing above-average reductions in per-student funding compared to the rest of the state. 

Port Townsend’s district, the largest of the six, with 9.52% of its funding coming from the federal government, would see a per-student loss of $201. 

Port Townsend High School Superintendent Linda Rosenbury,  said she and school staff will gather input from stakeholders before adopting their annual budget over the summer in anticipation of budget reductions.

“Our finance committee, composed of staff, families, and board members, will continue to study our expenses related to our revenues to find creative solutions,” she wrote. “Their input, along with each school’s Building Leadership Team, will inform the budget that district leaders’ recommended to the school board each summer.” 

The district has coped with budget reductions before, most recently when federal COVID funds expired after the 2023-2024 school year. 

“Through attrition, we were able to reduce expenditures while maintaining our signature programs for students,” Rosenbury said. 

Reykdal expressed support for changes to federal programs in the name of government efficiency, provided there is a plan to replace them. 

“The Trump Administration is being intentionally reckless in order to tear apart our public education system, while simultaneously harming our most vulnerable students and families,” he wrote. “This is not a partisan issue or limited to one program. This is our entire public education system under attack by an extremist ideology.”