On January 20, 2025, Inauguration Day, McKinleyville Union SD Superintendent Julie Giannini-Previde was already worried about federal funding for her student’s mental health needs.

The small district of around 850 students in Humboldt County had been awarded a five-year, $6 million federal grant that was paying for school-based mental health personnel, a much-needed service in this community that has been impacted by high rates of trauma and suicide.

Then in April, it came — a boilerplate letter stating that the district’s grant funding would not continue past Dec. 31. With representation from nonprofit law firm Public Counsel, MUSD sued the U.S. Department of Education, which had canceled the same grant in 48 other districts across California, totaling $168 million.

Giannini-Previde spoke at a news conference about the case in October and has been interviewed or quoted by local and national news outlets, including the Chico Enterprise Record, EdSource, Politico and the Associated Press.

EdCal asked Giannini-Previde for an update on the case and what comes next.

We were worried about the grant as soon as the current administration was sworn in. They made it clear they intended to cut federal education support and so we had been watching the news carefully. I was taken aback by their use of a boiler plate letter, without any indication of wrongdoing on our part.

What does this grant fund for your district? This grant funds five full time employees for us … these valued members of our staff provide mental health support to students, family support, and support to staff in addressing student needs. They are building relationships with kids so the kids have a trusted clinician they can access while at school. Our school psychologists are providing individual counseling, group counseling, and crisis counseling. Our social worker is building relationships with kids and their families. She can make home visits or connect families to community services. Our SBMH coordinator is developing training to improve teacher and support staff understanding of student mental health and how to build schools where kids feel a sense of belonging. We have an MTSS coach who can push into classrooms and help any classroom teacher to improve their systems so that all students can succeed. It is a layered response and we were just getting started when the U.S. Department of Education pulled the rug out from under us.

Washington state is leading a multi-state lawsuit against the ED on this matter. Why did your district file this lawsuit independently? First of all, the Washington case is very important, because it underscores how important these grants are to the states. We want the states to succeed in their lawsuit to protect all of these grant programs.

MUSD brought its own case to ensure that we are directly represented and that we have every opportunity to challenge the discontinuance of our grant. Our lawsuit doesn’t contradict the Washington case; rather, it gives us an additional layer of protection. As we see what happens in the Washington case, we’re prepared to advocate for our district and our students to ensure that DOE does not illegally discontinue our grant.

There was a ruling in the Washington case on Dec. 4 that forced the Trump administration to release mental health grant funds to schools. Has McKinleyville Union SD received those funds and will the grant be paid in full? The court in State of Washington v. U.S. Department of Education ordered the federal government to make continuation decisions and issue mental health grant awards by the end of 2025. However, the Department of Education did not comply with that order. Instead, it asked the court for more time to decide whether to continue the grants, including McKinleyville’s grant. Then, the court in the Washington case ordered the Department to issue interim grant awards while continuation decisions are pending. On Jan. 8, McKinleyville was awarded five weeks of interim funding. Last week, we provided the federal government with information to determine whether our grant would be continued. We still don’t know whether we will have grant funding beyond mid-February.

Do you have a court date? No hearing is scheduled in McKinleyville’s case right now. We are waiting to see what happens next in the Washington case.

What is the status of your mental health employees funded by this grant? Those five staff are currently still employed by the district, but if our grant is not continued, all five positions will be noticed by March 15 for termination at the end of this school year.

The federal government has informed the court that it will make continuation decisions by Feb. 6 and has requested information from us regarding performance during the 2025 grant year to make its continuation decision.

For other admins who have been impacted by federal funding cuts, what advice do you have? I think we all have an important role to play in protecting public education. The goals of public education are under attack in this country and I truly believe our democracy depends on a literate citizenry. Wherever we can, we need to use our influence to keep our institution intact for our communities.

Where is the district finding support during this legal battle? Early on we were in communication with our legal counsel and our county office. It has been a steep learning curve to understand the court systems and federal systems and I’ve been grateful for the support of Public Counsel and others in helping us navigate this process. I have also had the support of our school board ­— they have been really rock solid in their support of our efforts to keep this grant in our community.