The state has sued the U.S. Department of Education for cutting funding to mental health grants at elementary and high schools, including those at Conejo Valley Unified School District.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 15 other Democratic attorneys general filed the complaint June 30. CVUSD, one of 44 agencies in the state affected by the cuts, is at risk of losing $5 million if the legal battle is unsuccessful. Court records indicate the next hearing for the case is scheduled for Sept. 5.
“This course of action was not taken lightly,” CVUSD spokesperson Kimberly Gold wrote in an email regarding the lawsuit. “This decision was made after careful legal analysis and with the goal of giving the district the best chance to secure the federal funding it was previously awarded—federal funding that CVUSD is rightfully owed to support essential mental health services for students on its 27 campuses.”
The $1 billion in grants was part of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which passed in response to the May 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Including measures related to both gun control and mental health, the law was the only significant federal legislative response to any school shooting in recent decades.
The California Attorney General Office’s July 11 response to the Star’s public records act request stated that three of the 44 grant recipients in California were in Ventura County: Conejo Valley Unified School District, Oxnard Union High School District and Santa Paula Unified School District.
Oxnard Union spokesperson Brianna Mellon, however, said the district is not part of the filing as it does not receive direct federal wellness grants such as the ones related to the lawsuit.
Santa Paula Unified officials did not respond to repeated interview requests.
CVUSD was awarded $11.3 million to fund mental health services from 2023 through 2027, and the money pays the majority of the district’s budget for mental health programs.
The funding has allowed the district to support its 10 on-campus wellness centers, provide training for staff and hire 19 new positions, mostly licensed mental health clinicians. They have provided free, individual therapy to nearly 1,000 students each year since the grant was received.
“It is important to note that since 2022, this grant has allowed CVUSD to continue to create safe environments for students to access services,” Gold wrote.
On April 29, the Department of Education sent letters to CVUSD and hundreds of other school districts informing them that all future funding for the grant would be terminated Jan. 1, 2026. For CVUSD, this means the $5 million in remaining federal funds could be canceled.
The education department wrote that the grant reflects the priorities of the prior administration and conflicts with those of the current administration for one or more of the following reasons.“The programs violate the letter or purpose of federal civil rights law; conflict with the department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education; undermine the well-being of the students these programs are intended to help; or constitute an inappropriate use of federal funds,” the letter states.
CVUSD initially appealed the decision but, in early July, withdrew its request for reconsideration at the direction of the Office of the Attorney General.
“I’m sincerely hoping that this action on the part of Attorney General Rob Bonta joining with other states will result in the release of the previously awarded funding, which was withheld without justification and is needed by our students,” said Lauren Gill, a member of the district’s board of education. “There’s no benefit to anyone defunding mental health.”
In the 48-page lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the coalition of 16 states seeks injunctive and declaratory relief. The plaintiffs request that Judge Kymberly Evanso reverse the education department’s decision and reinstate the funding.
The attorneys general said that the Trump Administration’s decision to discontinue funding with a boilerplate notice violates the Constitution, specifically the Spending Clause and the Separation of Powers, as well as Administrative Procedure Act and the Code of Federal Regulations.
“It’s not only immoral, it’s unlawful…” Bonta wrote of the non-continuation decision in a July 1 news release. “The loss of this funding would cause immense harm to California students, especially in our low-income and rural communities.”
On Aug. 18, Bonta and 18 other attorneys general, including two more than the original lawsuit, sent a public comment letter to the education department, urging the federal agency not to limit schools’ abilities to support students’ mental health needs.
Though the U.S. Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment, the agency filed an opposition to the motion for preliminary injunction Aug. 6.
The request should be denied, the agency argued, because the 16 attorneys general failed to prove the connection necessary to represent the interests of the third-party grant recipients and failed to demonstrate that the states—not just their students—will suffer irreparable harm without an injunction.
The acting U.S. attorney wrote that the grant applications made it clear funding for future years was not guaranteed and that to continue an award the department is required to determine doing so is in the best interest of the federal government.
“The States’ decision to seek emergency relief from a discontinuation decision that does not take effect until 2026 is perplexing,” the department’s response asserts. “The Grantees do not have one less dollar available to them to spend today (and until the end of the year) than they did before they received the Notices of Non- Continuation.”
Makena Huey is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at makena.huey@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Fund to Support Local Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Federal funding cuts to Conejo Unified, other districts prompt lawsuit
Reporting by Makena Huey, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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