Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos issued an order preserving a previous preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Education (DOE) from canceling extensions to states that allowed school districts to continue to access COVID-19-related funds.
The far-left Obama appointed Ramos originally issued his injunction on May 6.
In March, Education Secretary Linda McMahon informed the states that extensions previously granted were being rescinded.
The extension directs the DOE to continue to process current and future funding requests “without delay.”
McMahon’s March letter to the State Chiefs of Education reads in part:
I write to inform you of a modification to the time period to liquidate obligations under the Education Stabilization Fund, including all programs funded by the CRRSA and ARP acts.
Under 2 CFR § 200.344(c), a federal award recipient must liquidate all obligations no later than 120 calendar days after the conclusion of the award. A federal agency “may approve extensions” if the agency, in its discretion, finds that such an extension is “justified.” Id. Here, the period to liquidate obligations for these Grant Awards expired. In response to a liquidation extension request, the Department of Education previously granted a discretionary extension of the period of liquidation. But the Department has reconsidered your request.
After careful review, the Department is modifying the liquidation period to end on March 28, 2025. The Department has concluded that the further extension of the liquidation period for the aforementioned grants, already well past the period of performance, was not justified. You and your subrecipients have had ample time to liquidate obligations. Indeed, the applicable regulation provided clear notice of the deadline for liquidating “all financial obligations incurred”: “no later than 120 calendar days after the conclusion of the period of performance.” Id. By failing to meet the clear deadline in the regulation, you ran the risk that the Department would deny your extension request. Extending deadlines for COVID- related grants, which are in fact taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the Department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion.
The $1.1 billion in unused COVID-19 relief funds earmarked for elementary and high schools across 16 states and Washington, D.C. must be given to them. The aid was originally granted under the American Rescue Plan Act to support pandemic recovery efforts such as tutoring, building upgrades, and assistance for homeless students.
The DOE is also barred from enforcing a May 11 directive requiring the plaintiffs to liquidate their obligations under the ESF by May 24.
1. The Defendants are preliminarily enjoined from enforcing or implementing as against Plaintiffs during the pendency of this litigation or until further order of the Court the directives in the March 28, 2025, letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon to State Education Chiefs, Doc. No. 1-1 (“March 28 Letter”), which purported to terminate the periods oftime for Plaintiffs to liquidate their obligations under the Education Stabilization Fund (“ESF”), as that term is defined in the March 28 Letter, as of 5:00pm ET on March 28, 2025.
2. The Defendants are preliminarily enjoined from enforcing or implementing as against Plaintiffs during the pendency of this litigation or until further order of the Court the directives in the May 11, 2025, “Dear Colleague” letter from Hayley B. Sanon, Doc. No. 84-1 (“May 11 Letter”), which purported to terminate the periods of time for Plaintiffs to liquidate their obligations under the ESF, as that term is defined in the May 11 Letter, as of May 24, 2025.
3. Defendants are preliminarily enjoined from attempting to modify ED’s previously approved periods for Plaintiffs to liquidate their obligations under the ESF without providing notice to Plaintiffs at least thirty (30) days prior to the effective date of such modification in order to provide Plaintiffs sufficient time to review the bases for the attempted modification and seek appropriate relief, as necessary, from the Court.
4. The Defendants are hereby directed to process Plaintiffs’ outstanding and future requests for liquidation of ESF without delay, and within one month from the issuance of this Order shall file with the Court a status report listing for each Plaintiff the payment requests for liquidation of ESF that are then outstanding, including the amount of each request, the date each request was submitted, and the anticipated date by which each request will be processed.
5. The Defendants must provide written notice of this Order to all personnel within the U.S. Department of Education. The written notice shall instruct all personnel that they must comply with the provisions of this Order. Defendants shall confirm in the status report filed in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Order that all personnel within the U.S. Department of Education have received this notice.
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