Federal judge orders Education Department to restore school mental health funding in New Mexico
A federal judge ruled the U.S. Department of Education acted unlawfully in canceling K-12 mental health grants, restoring funding that affects more than 5,000 students in New Mexico.
The decision restores funding for K-12 mental health grants affecting more than 5,000 students in New Mexico, including in rural districts
Organ Mountain News report
ALBUQUERQUE - A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Education to restore school mental health grant funding in New Mexico after ruling the department unlawfully canceled the program earlier this year.
The decision restores funding for K–12 schools that received multi-year mental health grants under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, affecting more than 5,000 students in New Mexico, including those in rural districts such as Silver Consolidated Schools.
U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson of the Western District of Washington granted summary judgment in favor of a coalition of states that sued the Department of Education after it discontinued the grants on April 29. The judge found the department’s actions violated federal regulations governing multi-year grant programs.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez said his office supported the legal challenge and worked with other states and federal officials throughout the case.
“No one — regardless of politics — wants to deny our kids access to the mental health support they need to learn, grow, and thrive,” Torrez said in a statement.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed in 2022 following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, provided $1 billion nationwide to expand school-based mental health services, with the goal of placing up to 14,000 mental health professionals in high-need and rural schools. Grants were awarded for five-year project periods, with annual reviews based on performance.
The Department of Education halted the grants despite no performance issues, citing a change in federal priorities. States argued the cancellations were arbitrary and violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
Judge Evanson agreed, writing that the department could not discontinue multi-year grants solely based on shifting political priorities.
“Nothing in the existing regulatory scheme comports with the Department’s view that multi-year grants may be discontinued whenever the political will to do so arises,” Evanson wrote.
The ruling follows earlier court actions in the case, including a preliminary injunction issued in October that blocked the grant terminations and a December decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denying the department’s request to pause the case.
The lawsuit was led by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and joined by attorneys general from New Mexico, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.
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