Despite appeal, Rochester schools' $1.9 million federal mental health grant denied
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Despite an appeal, the Trump admininstration has discontinued a $1.9 million grant for Rochester Public Schools that was intended to help address the mental health challenges facing students.
The School Based Mental Health Scholars program provided grants to cover tuition for Rochester Public Schools faculty and staff to take classes and earn degrees in social work through Winona State University.
School officials said the program would help fill a gap in mental health services in schools, as the district said there is a lack of qualified providers in the community.
The program prioritized scholarships for people from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. The program also did not guarantee those who complete the degree would get a position within the school district — just an interview.
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In response to the Rochester school district’s appeal of its spring decision, the U.S. Department of Education said in a Sept. 12th letter that it had determined "that your grant provides funding for programs that reflect the prior Administration’s priorities and policy preferences and conflicts with those of the current Administration."
The letter specifically cited the grant’s original intent to target tuition scholarships for diverse and underrepresented populations.
When the grant was announced in 2023, the district cited data that showed 32 percent of RPS 11th graders had seriously considered suicide, and that 11 percent had actually attempted it — numbers higher than the state average.
This spring, the federal education department told the district it was discontinuing the grant. At the time, Rochester Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel wrote that the termination was a “big step backward.”
“The $1.9 million federal grant to RPS was designed to address the profound mental health crisis that is affecting students in every community and from every background across the United States today,” he wrote.
At the time, Pekel said that six people had completed the program already. Another 10 were participating but would not be able to earn their licenses and degrees if the grant was terminated. And another 12 were slated to start the program this fall.
Pekel said that losing the grant funding would throw the participants’ future in the program into uncertainty.
