The District 202 Board of Education has approved a balanced but tentative budget for the 2025-2026 school year. However, due to cuts in federal funding to education around the country, the future of some ETHS programs remains uncertain.

Each year, the school’s financial team puts together a balanced budget, which is a financial plan where revenues equal expenses over a specific period, preventing the school from spending more than it earned.

ETHS received a 3% funding cut in the budget for the 2025-26 school year.

These cuts stem from several influences that have built up over a long period of time.

“I think that we’ve seen a number of changes in this political climate and that has led to cuts to programs we have relied on in the past,” said Kendra Williams, the Chief Financial Officer of ETHS.

After the 2020 presidential election, the budget rose by 5%, an improvement over the previous year’s increase. In contrast, following the 2024 election, the budget grew by 4%, which was lower than the 7% increase from the year before.

“At the federal level, we are navigating significant uncertainty around the future of U.S. Department of Education funding. Proposed federal budget cuts could have a direct impact on our district’s ability to sustain critical supports and services,” says the 2026 budget.

In this preliminary budget, the most obvious losses in funding were from federal programs known as Title I, II and III funding. Title I funding was cut from $320,000 to $200,000. This program provides supplemental funding to schools with high percentages of low-income students. Title II funding was cut from $85,000 to $70,000. This program provides funding to improve the quality of principals and teachers via professional development. Finally, Title III funding was cut from $25,000 to $20,000. This program provides funding for English Language Learners and immigrant students in achieving proficiency and academic success.

Although these programs received financial cuts, the truancy program-which helps to lower chronic school absences-received more funding.

“The truancy grant was awarded around August of 2024, and when the current administration started making cuts, they didn’t cut the grant funds which had already been awarded,” said Williams. 

Money is not the only thing to worry about here; crucial programs throughout the school may be jeopardized.

“Programs we rely on to support vulnerable students, close opportunity gaps and expand college and career access could be at risk,” states the 2026 budget.

However, school administrators are working to limit the damages these budget cuts could have.

“We’re looking at our current practices and managing our budget closely. Hopefully, the impact on students will be limited because we’re being diligent in ensuring that student experience is not hampered,” said Dr. Quiana McNeal, the principal of ETHS.

Thanks to this work, some programs remain untouched by the loss in federal funding.

“Not everything received as significant a cut, and when we refer to federal dollars such as the National School Lunch Program, we’re not expecting to see a decrease there,” Williams said. “However, the choice to limit title funding shows a lack of investment in closing the achievement gaps for several of our marginalized populations.”

ETHS student representative Eva Hansen hopes it is possible for this decrease in title funding to keep from negatively impacting the school as a whole.

“I hope our administrators work to find ways to overcome the gaps of a smaller budget…it’s important that our school continues to run the way it does,” said Hansen. “Funding education is really important, and this should be a priority.”