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NATCHEZ — The Natchez Adams School District is concerned that changes within the U.S. Department of Education may affect whether it receives federal funds that have already been budgeted.

Superintendent Zandra McDonald said at Monday’s school board meeting that the district may not get reimbursed for the expense of ongoing renovations at McLaurin and Morgantown schools that were budgeted with American Rescue Plan Act Funds.

She added, “We also have ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds that have been allocated to support instructional coaching for the 2025-26 school year. The State Superintendent received notification from the US Department of Education on this past Friday stating that they have reconsidered their liquidation deadline that was extended to school districts and to states. So as of this past Friday, they are saying that they are no longer going to honor reimbursements. So that means all of the construction costs or renovation costs that the district has incurred expecting to be reimbursed from the federal government — at this point that has been denied.”

The change in federal funding puts a strain on all school districts, not just Natchez-Adams, McDonald said. She added that the State can request another extension from the U.S. Department of Education.

“Hopefully, in the near future, we will be able to bring back their news regarding those federal allocations. That just puts districts in a very difficult situation because your budgeting money is based upon the expectation that those funds are going to be reimbursed. So we’re just going to have to reconsider our budgets at this point.”

School board member Dianne Bunch said the funds had already been “allotted by Congress and are now being pulled back” through no fault of the district.

“That will not only affect the public schools,” McDonald said. “That will affect any school entity. We are a flow-through for private schools. So, if there are any allocations that they have under those guidelines, they, too, are affected. Cathedral and (Adams County Christian School) receive federal funds allocated for speech services, instructional coaching, instructional technology, professional development, all of those programs.”