The House Ways and Means Committee is suggesting cutting $12 billion in school meal programs over 10 years by adjusting school qualification for the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and requiring income verification for national K-12 breakfast and lunch programs, according to a document on the committee’s budget reconciliation options.

Specifically, the committee proposed raising the minimum threshold for low-income schools and districts to qualify for CEP, which allows low-income schools to serve free meals to all students. To participate in the program, 25% of students enrolled in a school have to be certified as eligible for free school meals. The House proposal calls for a 60% threshold. 

The proposal would strip away 24,000 schools’ ability to participate in CEP, impacting over 12 million children, according to the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), a nonprofit anti-hunger advocacy group. In fact, according to a report by FRAC, participation in the CEP increased by almost 19% during the 2023-24 school year as half of all National School Lunch Program (NSLP) schools now use the provision that lets low-income schools serve free meals to all students.

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On January 31, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) released a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) directing school districts and colleges to follow the 2020 Title IX rule for investigating sex discrimination in schools, closing the chapter on a Biden administration rule that faced much legal turmoil.

Subsequently, a February 4, 2025 DCL replaced the January 31, 2025 DCL issued on the same topic and stated that it will enforce Title IX only under the provisions of the 2020 Title IX Rule, and that all open Title IX investigations initiated under the 2024 Title IX Rule should be immediately “reevaluated to ensure consistency with the requirements of the 2020 Title IX Rule.”

To view the January 31, 2025 DCL, click here.

To view the February 4, 2025 DCL, click here.

Click to view the 2020 updates to Title IX regulations.

Resources pertaining to Title IX and the 2020 Title IX Rule are available here.

On February 5, 2025 President Donald Trump signed an executive order barring transgender girls and women from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity, a move that has drawn condemnation from LGBTQ+ advocates and praise from conservatives. The order says the federal government will rescind all funds from educational programs that don’t comply. It directs the U.S. secretary of education to prioritize Title IX enforcement actions against colleges and K-12 schools where women are required “to compete with or against or to appear unclothed before males.”

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Despite continued acts of violence in schools, record-breaking instances of gun violence, and an increase cyberattacks, the Trump administration has disbanded the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse External Advisory Board. Ironically, during President Donald Trump’s first administration, an interagency effort established the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse, a public website that offers a wide range of school safety resources and recommendations for schools and school districts. The clearinghouse was established after the 2018 mass school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. 

Two years later, the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) was passed in response to another mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Subsequently, the passage of the BSCA led to the creation of the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse External Advisory Board.

Members of the federal school safety board received notice of its disbanding via a January 20, 2025 memo from Benjamine Huffman, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The board members were invited by DHS to re-apply in the future. Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), who was appointed as the board’s first chair, said he plans to apply to rejoin the board.

In total, the 26 former board members ranged from school safety experts and education leaders who were tasked with formulating advice and recommendations to improve K-12 school safety and security.

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On January 31, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) released a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) directing school districts and colleges to follow the 2020 Title IX rule for investigating sex discrimination in schools, closing the chapter on a Biden administration rule that faced much legal turmoil.

The letter from Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor confirms that under the 2020 rule, the interpretation of “sex” means being born male or female. The letter also clarified that any open Title IX investigations initiated under the 2024 Title IX Rule should be immediately re-evaluated to comply with the requirements of the 2020 rule.

According to Trainor, the change in approach is based on a federal judge’s decision earlier in January that struck down the 2024 rule as unconstitutional across the country. That rule for the first time extended Title IX civil rights protections to LGBTQI+ students and employees at federally funded schools and colleges, prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

To view the DCL, click here.

Source: K-12 Dive