By Carolyn Thompson, Associated Press

Public officials in 16 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration Thursday to restore access to pandemic relief aid for schools, saying the Education Department's abrupt halt of hundreds of millions of dollars of promised funding will force cuts to vital services.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan by a coalition of 16 Democratic attorneys general, led by New York’s Letitia James and including Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, plus Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat. It claims the administration's refusal to release the aid violates federal law because it reversed a prior decision to allow states to access the money through March 2026.

"The cuts to these programs are unlawful, and they will have a devastating impact on Nevada's children,” Ford said in a statement . “Every time the Trump Administration violates the law and negatively impacts Nevadans, my office will see him in court; this case is no different.” 

States were notified late last month that the Education Department would not honor deadline extensions granted by the Biden administration to spend the remainder of COVID relief aid approved by Congress to help schools and students recover from the lasting impacts of the pandemic. Schools were supposed to spend the last of the relief by January but many sought, and were granted, more time.

In announcing the reversal, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said schools had “ample time” to spend the money, but the agency would consider requests for extensions for individual projects. The department did not say how much money is left of the total $189 billion approved.

The Nevada Department of Education has dropped its initial estimate of affected funding from $29 million to about $10 million to $12 million, Megan Peterson, the department’s deputy superintendent for the Student Investment Division said in a Friday interview.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jhone Ebert previously told The Nevada Independent that the state requested the extension because procurement and hiring delays, especially at the height of the pandemic, prevented schools from being able to fully spend down their funds.

New York state lost access to $134 million, James' office said in a press release. It said the relief funding has supported repairs and improvements to school buildings and the purchase of library books, playground equipment and wheelchair-accessible buses. Districts also relied on the aid for programs and services for homeless students, as well as tutoring for students who fell behind because of missed classroom time.

“The Trump administration’s latest attack on our schools will hurt our most vulnerable students and make it harder for them to thrive,” James said. “Cutting school systems’ access to vital resources that our students and teachers rely on is outrageous and illegal.”

Joining the lawsuit were the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, and the District of Columbia.

This story was updated on 4/11/25 at 12:22 p.m. to include an update from the Nevada Department of Education.