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Los Angeles school district officials are preparing for the Trump administration to change, cut, or significantly diminish federal public school funding. 

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Thursday to shut down the U.S. Department of Education where leaders have already laid off more than 1,300 employees — and has also threatened to withhold funding for any schools with race-based programming. 

“Anything the federal government deems as specifically benefitting historically disadvantaged communities, there could be restrictions imposed on that, and we [have to] fight that,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said at a school board meeting earlier this month. 

Even if the funding was maintained at its current level in the coming years, Carvalho said it would still be a significant drop when factoring in salary increases and inflation. 

“The volatility associated with the appropriations process, which will impact the next federal fiscal cycle, can not be underestimated,” Carvalho said. 

The district is already dipping into its reserves, he said, spending one-third of those funds this year; and also implemented a targeted hiring freeze.

Although the board may disagree with Trump’s new education policies, conservative pressures have forced the district to scale back efforts. LA School Report recently reported the Black Student Achievement Plan is under fire from a Virginia-based organization, which filed a lawsuit against the program. The district responded by declaring it would no longer use race as a factor in choosing which schools participate. 

However, members of the Police Free LAUSD Coalition were incensed that their school board would make changes because of outside demands. 

More than a dozen students and faculty argued to continue and expand programs for Black, LGBTQ, and undocumented students at the March board meeting — the same groups that have been targeted for cuts and elimination by the Trump administration. 

“Respectfully, get your priorities straight and put the Black back in BSAP,” said a junior at Washington Prep High School, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor.

Another demand was to abolish school police and expand the Safe Passage program, which helps students get home safely in underprivileged neighborhoods. 

“If you aren’t willing to listen to your district’s demands from both students and teachers, maybe you shouldn’t be the ones in those seats,” said a senior at Dorsey High School, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor.