Huntsville City Schools Board President Carlos Mathews is concerned about what will happen to his district’s $33 million in federal funding if the U.S. Department of Education is dismantled.

“There is no guidance from the state of Alabama on how this is going to work,” Matthews said at a town hall meeting Thursday following President Donald Trump’s executive order instructing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin to eliminate the department.

See story: Katie Britt backs shutting down Department of Education that ‘catered to far-left bureaucrats’ – al.com

Mathews said federal funding currently pays for the school district’s Title I programs, special needs programs and its free lunch program. He also said about 42 teaching positions are funded in part by federal money.

“Our Title I funding goes to a lot of our schools in need,” Mathews said. “That helps fund programs such as our reading coaches, reading specialists, some of our teachers that we have in the classroom. What that money does is help reduce size for our students.”

Mathews said the school board doesn’t want large classes at the district’s most troubled schools.

One of Mathews’ concerns is how the funding will be distributed. U.S. Rep. Dale Strong, R-Monrovia, who supports the elimination of the department, favors returning the funding back to the states.

See story: U.S. Rep. Dale Strong: Abolish Department of Education, return money to states – al.com

“We don’t know, if the funding is not necessarily cut, but moved to another organization that will distribute the funds, the timing to make the new connections to that money,” Mathews said. “If it comes to the state, is the state going to funnel that money down to us? Those things are still up in the air.”

Mathews said Huntsville City Schools has a reserve budget that will allow the district to have a cushion if there is a funding delay.

He said that will allow the district to continue operating the programs dependent on federal funding “and not change anything.”

“The hope is that if the Department of Education is completely abolished and the services are moved, that it is just a temporary glitch in funding for us to be able to continue,” Mathews said.

Mathews is concerned about Alabama lawmakers changing how the federal money is distributed if it is returned to the state.

He said federal money the district currently receives – such as the Title I funding – “is earmarked for certain things.”

“You can’t use it for other things,” Mathews said. “If they take those restrictions away and moved to the states, that money could be used for multiple things.”

He said federal money could be taken and used for the CHOOSE Act school voucher program for the opportunity for students to go to private school.

Mathews said that could reduce the funding for local schools “for special needs students who need reading coaches and other special issues.”

“But we don’t know that yet,” he said.

Mathews said the school board is looking at ways to fund the teaching positions from local money should the district lose some of its federal funding.

Retired teacher Walter Rice and others in attendance at the town hall in west Huntsville asked Mathews what adjustments the school district could make if it lost some of the federal funding.

Mathews said the district would do what it could to make sure no changes would be made to programs affecting special needs students. He said extracurricular activities likely would not be affected since parents primarily funded many of those activities, especially those involving athletic teams.

Mathews said some course offerings could be cut and other adjustments made. He said money earmarked for capital projects – such as funding for the $600 million, 10-year capital plan – could not be used to make up for a potential shortfall.

Mathews said the school district’s local funding comes from brick-and-mortar sales taxes and property taxes. He said the district does not receive funding from internet sales taxes, which is something he would like to see changed.