After anxiously holding their breath for weeks, Kassie Nordlinder and Boulder Elementary’s afterschool program can now exhale after Montana received more than $6 million in federal funds to finance the initiative enjoyed by nearly four out of every five local students.
“I believe we will receive our full grant award for this year,” said Nordlinder, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) Program Director. “We should be able to host both the after-school program and the 2026 Summer Program.” The Boulder Elementary Consortium had anticipated getting just under $250,000 to cover the program’s next five years.
In early July, the Trump administration announced the withholding of $6.8 billion in national education funds, including $1.4 billion for the Nita M. Lowey 21st CCLC program. The U.S. Department of Education memo said the programs were under review, with no mention of objective or expected completion date.
