ST. GEORGE — President Donald Trump's decision to freeze over $6 billion in federal education funding is having a ripple effect in Washington County.
Washington County School District Business Administrator Brent Bills told St. George News on Monday that the district has lost access to over $1 million in federal funding for the 2025-2026 school year. Bills said that Trump's "big beautiful bill" will result in a similar loss for the 2026-2027 school year.
The school district will reportedly be able to use reserve funds to cover the amount of federal funding that has been frozen. But the freeze was still highly unexpected.
Bills noted that funding Congress allocates for education programs normally kicks in on July 1, but Trump indicated earlier this year that he would freeze education funding.
"It's been sitting there for a while frozen, and so we're not sure if it's ever going to get unfrozen or not," Bills said.
