Cuts to Sports, STEM, and Student Programs Draw Backlash as Education Department Budget Rises to Offset Federal Shortfalls

VIDE’s $179M budget request aims to offset expiring federal support and rising costs, yet includes cuts to student sports and STEM programs, prompting concern over how the territory will maintain enrichment opportunities under local-only funding.

A decision by the V.I. Department of Education to shift several federally funded positions back to the general fund has inflated its FY2026 budget by 5.04%, said Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hedrington on Monday.

The commissioner was testifying before the Senate Committee on Budget, Appropriations, and Finance in support of VIDE’s $179,316,999 general fund budget request. That sum includes $108,276,622 for personnel costs and an additional $54,845,776 for fringe benefits, which altogether reflect a $5,698,095 increase over last year's allocation. The increase is attributed to a “strategic decision to transition vital school-based positions from the federal funding sources to local appropriations, combined with the ongoing implementation and sustainment of collectively bargain salary increases,” Wells-Hedrington told lawmakers.

According to the education commissioner, such a “proactive” measure was taken to “ensure the continuity of essential educational services and to mitigate risks associated with the increasing uncertainty of federal grant allocations.” VIDE has been informed of the restoration of access to some $34 million in grant funding, but “is seeking guidance in terms of the drawdown.”

That decision has also affected the amount budgeted for supplies. That category increased by a whopping 83.25% for a total of $1,413,791, “largely driven by crucial investments in data processing software, which accounts for $367,472 of the total increase,” Wells-Hedrington explained. She testified that “a significant portion” of supply expenses had been budgeted against the now-expired American Rescue Plan Act grant. Now, “these unavoidable and reoccurring operational expenses must now be absorbed by local appropriations.”