Guilford County Schools faces $9 million loss in mental health grants

Guilford County Schools faced a roughly $9 million loss in federal grant money tied to mental health services, a cut that district leaders said would reach all 120 schools. The money had helped pay for the people and programs families often notice first when a child is struggling, including counselors, social workers, crisis response and student support.

The district had received a five-year, $14.8 million School-Based Mental Health Services grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2023. That funding was built to expand school-based mental health support, including more school social workers and psychologists, at a time when districts across North Carolina were trying to keep pace with student stress, trauma and other barriers to learning.

The pressure intensified in August 2025, when the Trump administration canceled millions of dollars in school mental health grants affecting four North Carolina programs. Guilford County was among the districts caught in that rollback, and Superintendent Whitney Oakley said the cuts would affect every school in the system. Oakley also said $6.2 million in federal funding the district had been counting on was frozen by the U.S. Department of Education, leaving schools with fewer options to protect support staff without shifting money from other services.

The immediate risk is not abstract. When mental health money disappears, the first question for parents and educators is what changes for students this year: fewer counseling check-ins, longer waits for help, thinner staffing for intervention programs and less room for schools already operating on tight margins. That can hit hardest in schools where students rely on extra support to stay in class, regulate behavior and keep up academically.

Local budget decisions have only added to the strain. A Guilford County budget page says a state moratorium requires the county to reduce $56.7 million in funding to support K-12 education. In June 2026, county school leaders asked for nearly $25 million in additional county funds and received $5.6 million instead, while commissioners approved $288 million for Guilford County Schools operating expenses.

That leaves the district trying to absorb a federal loss on top of a county funding squeeze, with mental health services caught in the middle. For families, the stakes are measured in whether schools can keep the counselors, psychologists and social workers that help students get through the day.