Six billion. Six billion dollars are gone. 108 million were previously secured for the state of Virginia, and 417,000 were cut from Charlottesville schools. In July of 2025, due to pressure from 24 states and both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, the grants were unfrozen. But a question that has crossed my mind and others is this – What actually funds our school and where do we get money from, where does the money go, and what would have happened if budgets didn’t get unfrozen?
When discussing this with our principal, Dr. Malone, I learned that we get money from local, state, and federal funding and grants. Talking with Dr. Malone, I learned we get a small percent of federal funds, we get local and state funding as main sources, and we use grants to help boost and expand as much as we can. Grants, which last 2–3 years and are highly important, provide so much for our school. For example, our school is lucky to have free lunch and breakfast due to a grant our school is eligible for.
But first, what opportunities might not have sprung without this funding? Federal grants in our community were targeted to help schools K through 12 and adult education schools. For elementary schools, “federal funds are extremely important and there is a key reason why Title I schools get dedicated federal funding for math and English dedicated help,” said Dr. Malone. If these budgets weren’t unfrozen, Title I schools would have taken a hit, noting how extremely important it is that all students at CHS have the resources to excel that they need and deserve.
Whilst researching all of these funding levels, I had learned about how important and viable these funds are to schools and also heard what the president of the class of ‘27, Lena Oppenheimer, said: “I think that mental health is a big crisis in schools, specifically because of academic stress, as well as social.” I had learned that these grants help our teachers, but they directly affect students. If these funds were never unfrozen, the resources for mental health programs and training across the U.S. wouldn’t be running without the help of these grants. Not only would teachers, staff, and medical health campaigns be affected, but students would be affected as well. For CHS, mental health professionals receive a portion of the funding, but the funds also go to resources needed for supporting mental wellness.
In an interview, Hunter Scherer, the president of the class of of ‘26 said, “Mental health is such a prominent issue in schools, so it’s extremely important to keep raising awareness about mental health. It’s important to allocate funds to sectors of schools that support kids.” A really large cut that would be made to a lot of public school programs would be for migrant education and ESL teachers and learners across the U.S., including in Virginia. For CHS, we also receive a portion of federal funding for the development of reading skills and have two reading specialists here at Charlottesville, according to Dr. Malone.
So where and what is this money coming from for CHS exactly? The short answer to this question is local funding, state funding, federal funding, and grants. As a strong community at CHS, it’s important to learn what helps grow and keep our school going to be at its best because every dollar is important; it needs to be known where it is being applied. At CHS, our admin and faculty do their best to help grow and keep everyone learning and thriving. So make the days count – and the dollars!
Sources: Principle: Dr. Malone, Class president of ‘26 Hunter Scherer, Class president of ‘27 Lena Oppenheimer.
