Georgia Today: Education funds remain frozen; Mail distribution center struggles; Edible landscapes

Orlando Montoya: Hello and welcome to the Georgia Today podcast. Here we bring you the latest reports from the GPB newsroom. On today's episode, as close to $7 billion in federal funding for education remains frozen, Georgia schools could be among the worst to feel the effects. A postal distribution center in Palmetto, south of Atlanta, continues to struggle a year after frustrating mail delays across the nation. And have you ever thought about using your backyard to grow food?

Heather Kirk-Ballard: Corn, tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, certain summer squashes that you can grow, broccoli, cabbage, all of our greens such as kales and mustard greens.

Orlando Montoya: Today is Monday, July 14. I'm Orlando Montoya, and this is Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Orlando Montoya: Democrats in the state Senate are calling on the Trump administration to release federal funds designated for after-school programs. GPB's Sarah Kallis reports.

Sarah Kallis: Schools in Georgia have still not received millions of dollars in federal grants they were promised for the upcoming school year. Students will return to the classrooms in August and funds have been placed under review by the federal government. State Sen. RaShaun Kemp, who works for an education nonprofit, says the frozen funds need to be released before the school year starts, or Gov. Brian Kemp needs to call a special session to address the shortfall if the programs are cut altogether.

Brian Kemp: This is not a partisan issue. This is a people issue. Georgia families can't wait. Georgia kids shouldn't be used as political pawns. And the future of 27,000 children is on the line.

Sarah Kallis: A spokesperson for the governor said there are no plans for a special session at this time. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis at the state Capitol.

Story 2:

Orlando Montoya: A district-by-district accounting of the federal funds the U.S. Department of Education is holding back shows a disproportionate impact on schools in Atlanta-area congressional districts. The analysis released last week by the left-leaning think tank New America shows among Georgia districts, those represented by Democrats David Scott, Nikema Williams, and Lucy McBath are set to lose the most, more than $10 million each. But even Republican-represented Georgia districts stand to lose millions. Close to $7 billion in federal money required by law to go to states for education remains frozen. GPB's Grant Blankenship recently talked to Bibb County School Superintendent Dan Sims to find out what the frozen money was meant to pay for.

Grant Blankenship: First of all, thank you for taking the time.

Dan Sims: Absolutely.

Grant Blankenship: So what we're trying to suss out is this between $6 and $7 billion dollars that the federal government has hanging fire. What we know, what we think, what, we suspect that may do to our schools locally. So I guess probably a lot of bullet points, maybe take them one by one. So where do we start? What do we know?

Dan Sims: And so for us, if you want to go in that space. Migrant education. And those are those students who fit the definition of migrant education. We're talking about tutors, travel, instructional materials, summer experiences. Another big category under Title 2A is improving teacher quality. And that's all things related to professional development.

Grant Blankenship: How would that affect, say, training to get up to speed on this whole science or reading thing, like all the literacy efforts? Are those the sorts of training that might fall under this umbrella?

Dan Sims: They could fall under that umbrella. Granted, it's not the only bucket that we have for professional development, but it is a significantly utilized bucket. And that could include consultants that we bring in for specialized PD, coaches that we've have in the district to support all things related to improving teacher quality. From time to time, we do service agreements with individuals to do work above and beyond what's in place to support everything that we're doing. Substitute teachers, travel for professional development, all those things that are designed to increase the learning for our teachers.

Grant Blankenship: Well, substitute teachers. In recent history, that's been a pretty big budget line, right?

Dan Sims: Yeah, yeah. And specifically for this, though, this would account for substitutes that are needed when teachers are away for professional development.

Grant Blankenship: I see.

Dan Sims: So it's just a matter of being able to pay for that.

Grant Blankenship: Subset of substitute teachers just when when teachers are off getting these extra certifications and that sort of thing

Dan Sims: Absolutely.

Grant Blankenship: Give me a sense of how much you have spent historically on that kind of thing, this professional development thing of this federal money like how much money is that?

Dan Sims: Whew! So we're talking about at least at least a million dollars.

Grant Blankenship: Which is not an insignificant sum.

Dan Sims: No, no, it's not a significant sum, not at all. Yeah, and that's for a year. Yep, and you're talking about year over a year, money that we rely on in that space.

Grant Blankenship: Yeah, let's keep going through the other buckets.

Dan Sims: All right, so English language learners, and specifically language instruction.

Grant Blankenship: So this is separate from the migrant students pile. This is, okay.

Dan Sims: Yes it is, and this is for web-based subscriptions that can help our students, tutors, books for those particular students. Fees for parent literacy instructors. So here, this is a big one — all of them are big, but this one starts getting into dual enrollment opportunities for our students. We actually have a full-time dual enrollment coordinator, somebody whose sole role is to ensure that we connect our students to dual enrollment opportunities. We pay for that with federal funds.

Grant Blankenship: So yeah, talk to me a little bit more about — I know dual enrollment has been a big deal in the high schools for a few years now.

Dan Sims: Absolutely so.

Grant Blankenship: Why? Why is dual enrollment such a big deal for kids here?

Dan Sims: It's a big deal because, imagine if you will, you're a high school student and you can walk away with 30 credit hours and no bill, and you transfer those credits to wherever you go after you graduate. That's a bit deal, especially for underserved communities and families who just cannot afford to send their kids to college. I was one of those kids, but didn't have a dual enrollment experience. So to give our students that experience and to save that kind of money and potentially have students with the ability to graduate from college with a bachelor's degree in two years versus four years, it is a true game changer. In addition to that, we have now a great partnership with the National Equity Project where our students in Bibb County will be able to go to schools like Harvard, Howard, Penn State, Spelman, Morehouse and the like, online and get those dual enrollment credits. So they now have a national opportunity to get dual enrollment credits and we're looking forward to paying for that using these federal funds.

Grant Blankenship: So that's what's on the line.

Dan Sims: That is potentially what's on the line, and I would hate to compromise such an amazing opportunity for our students because of this freeze.

Grant Blankenship: Again, price tag on that?

Dan Sims: That's going to be in the area of, I would say, about just under $2 million. Now financially, our big one is our 21st-century learning communities, and that is all of our before- and after-school programs.

Grant Blankenship: Yeah.

Dan Sims: And that comes at a price tag of, I want to say, about $3 million. So that is before- and after-school programming for our students and for their families, not just to be kept and babysat, but to engage in enrichment activities, to extend the learning from the school day and of course a safe, structured place for students to be while parents are still at work.

Grant Blankenship: Yeah, right. Well, that's the thing is that it allows parents to work a 40-hour week.

Dan Sims: Right, right, in addition to dual enrollment, we hang our hat on us providing this extended learning experience for our students and have done so for years. We are significantly concerned about, in July, the potential of having to tell parents that we have to find some other option that we know so many families rely on.

Grant Blankenship: So those are the buckets, and you mentioned earlier that there's prioritization that has to be happening now as you figure out how you're going to cope with all this. So where do you even start?

Dan Sims: Anything directly affecting human capital will probably be on the top of the list. I'm talking about direct impact on students in addition to human personnel, the human resource. However, I'm gonna call it a soft prioritization, and I say that because I'm hopeful. Right now it is a freeze. They've not been reallocated. So if there's gonna be any kind of cuts in these spaces, I think we are owed the gift of time to think through. This gives us no time to think through alternative plans. July 1 was our start date for implementing these funds. And we know there are some things we have to get off the ground. So we'll start with things off the ground and kind of take it, I hate to say, month by month, but we've got to kind of take it one month, one day at a time, and look forward to an answer. I just don't foresee a freeze of $6.8 billion, turning into a withdrawal of $6.8 billion. We're going to land somewhere and we just look forward to whatever that landing space is going to be and we'll figure things out.

Grant Blankenship: Superintendent Dan Sims, thank you very much for your time today. I appreciate it.

Dan Sims: Thank you as well. It's been a pleasure.

Orlando Montoya: You just heard GPB's Grant Blankenship with Bibb County Schools Superintendent Dan Sims on the likely effects of frozen federal education funding.

Story 3:

Orlando Montoya: The Georgia Council for the Arts today announced more than $1.3 million in competitive grant funding to recipients in 49 counties. The initial disbursements for fiscal year 2026 will support more than 100 arts organizations. They include the Second Annual Statesboro Arts Festival in Southeast Georgia and an after-school arts program in Northwest Georgia's Catoosa County. The money comes from appropriations made by the Georgia General Assembly and the congressionally funded National Endowment for the Arts.

Caption

A pair of U.S. Postal Service delivery vehicles.

Credit: Nati Harnik / AP

Story 4:

Orlando Montoya: A U.S. Postal Service Distribution Center continues to struggle with operations more than a year after its opening caused frustrating delays in mail delivery across the state. GPB's Sofi Gratas has more.

Sofi Gratas: The assessment released last week comes from the Office of Inspector General and is based on observations at the Postal Facility in Palmetto, south of Atlanta. It finds improved service performance, but it still remains below national averages and well below agency goals. The audit questions about $16 million in spending. It also shows about 1 in 5 employees aren't showing up to work on any given day. The facility's managers disagree with many of the report's key findings and recommendations. The Palmetto Mail Distribution Center and others nationwide have come under intense scrutiny in recent years. The head of the beleaguered U.S. Postal Service resigned in March. For GPB News, I'm Sofi Gratas.

Story 5:

Orlando Montoya: An Atlanta attorney is among those who died in the massive floods that laid waste to Texas Hill Country. The Huff-Powell-Brady law firm said on its website on Friday that attorney Josephine Hardin was in Texas with her family and died in early hours of July 4. Born in 1997, she was remembered as a beloved colleague and natural leader who gave back to the community through several organizations. A weeklong search for more victims along the Guadalupe River was temporarily paused yesterday because of more heavy rains.

Story 6:

Orlando Montoya: A jury in Metro Atlanta's DeKalb County has awarded a $40 million verdict to a young woman in a first-of-its-kind trial against a hotel owner accused of turning a blind eye to sex trafficking. An attorney for the unnamed woman says the verdict on Friday against United Inn And Suites in Decatur serves as a warning to hotels concerned more about profits than the safety of children. The attorney, Pat McDonough, argued his client was sold hundreds of times over a 38-day period. The hotel owner argued in court that he didn't know trafficking was taking place. Other similar trials in Georgia had been settled before they went to a jury.

Story 7:

Orlando Montoya: Mid-July marks planting season for some produce like tomatoes and okra that could spruce up a plain suburban backyard. GPB's Chase McGee reports on "edible landscaping."

Chase McGee: If you're looking to reduce your grocery bill, you might be surprised to learn what produce you can grow in the suburbs. Heather Kirk Ballard is the Sustainable Urban Landscapes Extension Specialist at the University of Georgia. She's a proponent of edible landscaping, the practice of working food-producing plants into ornamental gardening.

Heather Kirk Ballard: Corn, tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, certain summer squashes that you can grow, broccoli, cabbage, all of our greens such as kales and mustard greens. And some of those have a lot of color in them like swiss chard.

Chase McGee: Kirk-Ballard says that after you check any local landscaping rules, talk to your local extension specialist about what will grow in your area and when to plant it. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee.

Story 8:

Orlando Montoya: Augusta-based golf cart manufacturer Clubcar says one of its European subsidiaries has delivered two custom-made electric vehicles to Pope Leo. The company said last week the car was made in Poland and is designed to be transported on long-haul flights to help the pope on international visits. Clubcar acquired Polish luxury golf and leisure car company GARIA in 2022. The GARIA vehicle was delivered to Pope Leo at his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo in Rome.

Story 9:

Orlando Montoya: Turning now to Georgia sports, the Atlanta Braves selected shortstop and outfielder Tate Southestine as its first-round draft pick yesterday in the MLB Draft. Ronit Shaw is vice president of amateur scouting for the Braves. He says Southestine has a lot of potential.

Ronit Shaw: He's got the tools to play just about anywhere on the field because he's got an above-average arm. He's a plus runner and just the athleticism and the looseness, the tools which that you need to play, whether it's shortstop, second or center. But we're definitely going to send him out at shortstop.

Orlando Montoya: Daniel Pierce of Mill Creek High School in Northeast Georgia's Jackson County was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 14th round, and the New York Yankees selected Dax Kilby, a shortstop from metro Atlanta's Coweta County in the 39th round. GPB's Peter Biello is at the Braves' Truist Park today and tomorrow to cover the All-Star Game and we look forward to bringing you those reports on coming editions of Georgia Today.

And that's it for today's edition of Georgia Today. If you'd like to learn more about these stories, visit gpb.org/news. If you haven't yet hit subscribe on this podcast, take a moment right now and keep us current in your podcast feed. Hit subscribe, hit like, hit all the things you need to hit. If you have feedback, send us feedback to GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Orlando Montoya. We'll be back again tomorrow with another edition of Georgia Today.

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