In solidarity with Belmont students and in opposition to federal cuts to public education, Belmont educators, dressed in red, joined others across the country in a day of action organized by the National Education Association (NEA).
“It was meant to send a message that we care about our students and colleagues that are immigrants, neurodiverse learners, or [from a] racially diverse population, our black and brown students and colleagues — and that we are against some of the cuts that are being made at the federal level in terms of public education,” said Belmont Education Association (BEA) President John Sullivan.
Amid President Donald Trump’s promise to dissolve the federal Department of Education, Belmont Schools are awaiting clarity about how the district could be affected.
Superintendent Jill Geiser said it’s difficult to predict the future.
“We can’t make decisions based on hypotheticals,” she said.
Geiser said although the district receives some federal grants, the state distributes those grants to individual districts.
Federal grants Belmont receives include the Title IA, Title IIA, and Title IV grants from the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), as well as a grant tied to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Federal Grants
In fiscal year 2025, Belmont received $147,822 from the Title IA grant. The grant provides supplemental educational opportunities to students most at risk of failing statewide performance standards.
According to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website, the grants “may be used to provide academic, instructional, and support services for eligible students, professional development activities for staff, support for parent involvement activities, and the purchase of appropriate supplies and materials.”
According to the DESE website, Belmont also received $60,326 in fiscal year 2025 from the Title IIA grant to recruit, train, and retain educators.
Additionally, Belmont received $1,140,204 in fiscal year 2025 from the IDEA grant, which provides funding for special education services.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Well-being
According to Geiser, amid uncertainty regarding changes at the federal level, the district is continuing its efforts to develop diversity, equity, inclusion, and well-being (DEIW) programming, including hiring its new DEIW director, Darnell Williams.
“We are moving forward with the DEIW work because it’s important,” said Geiser.
She said despite backlash on the federal level against DEI programming, individual districts have the jurisdiction to decide what their DEI programming will look like.
“It’s all a local decision,” she added.
On Feb. 26, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell provided state guidance for schools, emphasizing the rights of individual districts to take steps to maintain student diversity.
The letter of guidance states: “Longstanding legal precedent has established that educational institutions may take steps to build student bodies that are meaningfully diverse across numerous dimensions, like geography, socioeconomic status, race, and sexual orientation and gender identity, among others. The President cannot change this longstanding legal precedent by executive order.”
Furthermore, it states that “schools should continue to take affirmative steps to create and maintain a positive school climate where all students feel safe, supported, respected, and ready to learn.”
