Arizona Boys & Girls Clubs under threat as Trump administration withholds federal funding

Thousands of children across Arizona could lose access to summer camps, academic support and after-school care thanks to millions of dollars the Trump administration is withholding from public schools.

On July 1st, the US Department of Education was supposed to disburse over $6 billion in federal funding that was already approved by Congress, over $130 million of which was intended for Arizona schools. 

The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley (BGCAZ) anticipated these funds would serve more than 2,000 kids in the upcoming school year across 10 club sites in high-poverty communities across Arizona. Without the money, BGCAZ is facing a potential $1.3 million budget shortfall. 

Want Arizona news in your inbox each morning? Sign up for our free newsletter.

Last week, Rep. Greg Stanton, AZ-04, and Sen. Mark Kelly, both Democrats, sent a letter demanding the Trump Administration release the millions of frozen grant funding to Arizona schools.

“This is my old stomping grounds,” Stanton said at a press conference at the Harry & Sandy Rosenzweig BGCAZ Branch on July 10. “Just like the kids here, I grew up learning in this space, and it deserves to be protected for future generations.”

Funding BGCAZ shouldn’t be debated, the results of the program speak for themselves, Stanton said. In fact, 97% of Club teens can expect to graduate from high school.

“[These are] incredibly important programs for students and families, particularly those in under served communities,” Stanton said. “In this case, it’s the kids who lose … It’s a lost opportunity that they could never get back.”

Kids will instead go without tutoring, mentoring, and meals every day after school, said Marcia Mintz, CEO of BGCAZ at the press conference.

“Our mission is really very simple, we provide safe spaces and caring mentors and then life changing opportunities for the youth who need us most,” Mintz said. “But this mission is currently under threat.” 

Staff has already been hired, and students have been enrolled for the school year—club sites are expected to launch programs and just hope the funding comes through, which is unrealistic, Mintz said.  

The situation families and after-school program providers are facing is like an employer withholding a paycheck, said Cecilia Maes, superintendent of the Alhambra Elementary School District. “You’re expecting that payment, but they say, just wait, keep working, it’s coming…how can we plan?” 

In Arizona, school resumes in just a few weeks, between late July and early August. 

The freeze is creating uncertainty and confusion for working families, Maes said at the press conference. “Our working families need to be able to plan for what their children will be doing after school.”

Ten locations rely on the frozen funding, and families will begin to feel these cuts as soon as school starts, Mintz said.

In total, Trump’s administration is withholding $6.8 billion in education funds across the country. So far, 24 states, including Arizona, have entered a lawsuit to have the money released.

READ MORE: Trump freezes nearly $120M in Arizona’s K-12 federal funding

“This is not a budget problem. This is a people problem. This is thousands of kids that would not have access to services. They would lose a safe place after school,” said Mintz. “Arizona families, and our kids, should not be caught in the middle of any bureaucratic delays.”

Without the funding, schools will either be forced to cut programs altogether or find different revenue streams to make up for the millions they were shortchanged. 

Some have already accounted for the federal funding in their budgets, which they will not receive. A portion of the money was intended to support underserved students, such as migrant students and English-language learners, across five federal programs.

Across those programs, $375 million was slated for migrant education, $2.2 billion for educator professional development, $890 million for English-learner services, $1.3 billion for academic enrichment, and $1.4 billion for before and after school programs were withheld from schools nationwide. 

The money on hold represents more than 10% of Arizona’s total K-12 funding, which pays for teacher salaries, reading intervention programs, anti-drug campaigns, physical fitness initiatives, credit recovery programs, and so much more, according to the Arizona Education Association. 

Mesa Public Schools, the largest school district in the state, is losing $4.2 million in funding they had planned for and allocated to signed contracts.

This pause on federal funding is illegal, as Congress did not approve the withholding or delay of funds it had already appropriated.

Yesterday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined the list of officials from states suing the Trump Administration over its decision to freeze the funding. “It’s unlawful for President Trump to hold up this education funding and wreak havoc on Arizona’s students and families—and it’s having an immediate and devastating impact,” Mayes said in a press release.