WASHINGTON (AP) —The administration says it will appeal a ruling that it must release millions of dollars in grants meant to address a shortage of mental health workers in schools.
The Education Department said in a statement Tuesday that it is working with the Justice Department to appeal the Monday ruling by a federal judge in Seattle.
U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson ruled the administration’s move in April to cancel school mental health grants starting in December 2025 was arbitrary and capricious. The ruling applies only to some grantees in the 16 Democratic-led states that challenged the decision. Congress funded the mental health program after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The administration opposed aspects of the grant programs that touched on race, saying they were harmful to students. The department said in its statement Tuesday the grants, which were first awarded under the Biden administration, were used “to promote divisive ideologies based on race and sex.”