As Kat Lagmay’s youngest daughter heads to middle school in the fall, the working mom was counting on the after-school program as a lifeline for her special needs child. Without structured activities, the 11-year-old girl has a harder time playing with her classmates.

“Without adults around, it’s just her friends; it’s a struggle,” Lagmay said.

Both of Lagmay’s two older daughters went to After-School All-Stars at Jarrett Middle School in Pālolo. Her youngest was going to love the sports and the arts and crafts, she thought. Plus, since Lagmay and her husband both work, pickup right after school can be hard to arrange.

But under the Trump administration, billions of dollars that include funding for some after-school programs like this one might be going away. If that happens, Lagmay says her daughter loses out on the kinds of settings that really help her grow.

“I think that’s important for kids because at that age, they don’t know how to be friends,” she said. “I think having it supervised makes it easier for kids to learn proper social skills.”

The state Department of Education says programs in Hawaiʻi won’t be immediately impacted by a $7 billion funding freeze announced by President Donald Trump’s administration on June 30, but it is starting to make plans for what will happen if that funding never comes through.

Twenty-four states, including Hawaiʻi, sued this week to get the administration to release the funds. The administration said it is reviewing the programs to see whether they are consistent with the “president’s priorities,” the lawsuit says. The Office of Management and Budget has indicated that some grants supported left-wing causes, including LGBTQ+-related efforts or undocumented immigrants.

A total of $33 million is currently being withheld from Hawaiʻi that was earmarked for English language learning programs at 278 schools, adult education for 3,800 students, migrant education for more than 2,700 students, teacher training programs and supplemental education and support.

The money the federal government is withholding also includes $6.5 million in 21st Century Community Learning Center grants, which the state estimates pays for after-school and summer programs for more than 13,000 children here. 

“We were surprised,” Deputy Superintendent Tammi Chun said of the funding freeze, which was announced in an email to education agencies around the country the day before it was supposed to be made available. “I think all the state education agencies were surprised.” 

The Department of Education has told programs to start the year as normal and is working on contingency plans for two potential outcomes: if funding is just delayed or if it never comes through.

“We are in a delicate situation,” Chun said. “We want people to proceed, to start the school year, not to panic. We also want to be mindful that it is $33 million that we had been counting on.”

Chun said the programs have carryover funds from last year that they can use to start the school year on Aug. 4. But she didn’t know how long those funds would last. 

If the federal money doesn’t come through, Chun said the department will ask for additional funding from the Legislature to continue priority programs. Exactly how much the department would need to ask for and which programs would be considered priorities are still being analyzed. 

The courts have blocked previous Trump administration attempts to cut off funding. 

For example, a federal judge in January stopped the administration from freezing $3 trillion in federal grants that the administration threatened to withhold from organizations whose missions included diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and other efforts Trump said conflicted with his policy goals.

‘A Lifeline’ For Families

As much as Lagmay relies on after-school programming to help her daughter build social skills in a supportive environment, it’s also crucial for the family with two working parents and five kids.

Lagmay works fluctuating hours at her retail job. Without help from programs like After-School All-Stars, she’d have to move around her schedule or rush over on her break to pick up her daughter when the last bell rings. Or she’d have to count on her husband to get off work early from his construction job.

It’s not like Lagmay will be left totally in the lurch without After-School All-Stars. Her 14-year-old daughter is entering ninth grade at a hybrid school, which means she’s often at home. But that’s not an ideal solution. 

“My older daughter is home,” Lagmay said. “But teenagers don’t want to watch their little sisters.”  

Aside from that, Lagmay doesn’t have much of a backup plan if After-School All-Stars were to stop operating. She says she’d need a month or two to come up with something, especially given her daughter’s complex needs.

“I have to just hope that somebody somewhere in this country, in the state, somewhere is going to save it,” she said.

The people who run the programs are banking on that, too.

Sheryll Famularcano, program manager with the Hawaiʻi Afterschool Alliance, said she’s glad programs will be able to start the year without interruptions, but she knows it’s only a short-term fix if the freeze becomes permanent. 

“We still need the long-term solution to figure out how we can fund for future years,” she said. “After-school and summer is a lifeline for a lot of working families.”

One community organization that runs after-school programs using 21st Century Community Learning Center funding is the YMCA of Honolulu, which is supposed to receive $2.4 million over the next three years.

This school year, the organization plans to conduct programs at Pauoa Elementary School, Prince David Kawananakoa Middle School, President William McKinley High School and Kauluwela Elementary School in Honolulu, said Jon Cho, the YMCA’s program executive director. 

The programs are free and families do not need to meet income or work requirements to participate, Cho said. 

“We offer a safe space for all the students to be able to come to,” he said. “We also offer tutoring and homework support in language arts, math and other core subjects.” 

Cho said the programs will be able to continue as planned for this school year, but the funding freeze at the federal level has caused anxiety about the future.

“For us to not be able to anticipate what comes next, it’s very stressful of course on our end,” he said.

After-school programs not only care for kids while their parents are working, they also provide learning and enrichment opportunities that benefit students in noticeable ways, he said. He’s seen extremely shy children develop more self-confidence after a few months in the after-school program. 

“Not only are they making friends, but they’re initiating new ideas,” he said. “They want to get involved with school clubs and student council.”

Lagmay also is worried that after-school programming will be just one of a slew of cuts to programs her special needs child relies on as the Trump administration looks to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

“I think kids overall are going to suffer,” she said. “My kid is definitely going to suffer with all this funding going away, whether it’s All-Stars, special programs or just schools in general losing funding. It’s going to be horrible.”