US appeals court rejects Trump administration bid to halt grants for school mental health workers

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to halt an order requiring it to release millions of dollars in grants meant to address the shortage of mental health workers in schools.

The mental health program, which was funded by Congress after the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, included grants meant to help schools hire more counselors, psychologists and social workers, with a focus on rural and underserved areas of the country. But President Donald Trump’s administration opposed aspects of the grant programs that touched on race, saying they were harmful to students and told recipients they wouldn’t receive funding past December 2025.

U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson, ruled in October that the administration’s move to cancel school mental health grants was arbitrary and capricious.

The U.S. Department of Education and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon requested an emergency stay and on Thursday, a panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied that motion.

The panel wrote in its decision that the government hadn’t shown it is likely to succeed based on its claims that the district court doesn’t have jurisdiction or that it will be “irreparably injured absent a stay.”

The grants were first awarded under Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration. The Education Department prioritized giving the money to applicants who showed how they would increase the number of counselors from diverse backgrounds or from communities directly served by the school district.

The Trump administration said in a statement after the ruling in October that the grants were used “to promote divisive ideologies based on race and sex.”

The preliminary ruling by Evanson, a U.S. District Court judge in Seattle, applies only to some grantees in the 16 Democratic-led states that challenged the Education Department’s decision. In Madera County, California, for example, the ruling restores roughly $3.8 million. In Marin County, California, it restores $8 million.