Pennsylvania will lose more than $180 million in pandemic relief funding earmarked for school districts and education entities if the Trump Administration’s decision to revoke pandemic relief funds stands.

On Thursday, Gov. Josh Shapiro joined a multistate lawsuit with 15 other states and the District of Columbia challenging the Trump Administration’s decision to abruptly revoke the funding, much of which the United States Department of Education had already approved for distribution.

These funds include $183.6 million owed to 116 Pennsylvania school districts, charter schools, intermediate units, and career and technical centers and $1.8 million owed to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, according to a news release from the Shapiro administration.

The Hollidaysburg Area School District is among those districts affected by the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the funds and will need to find another revenue source for new electronic locking doors.

The funding for this feature — being added for student safety — will now fall on Hollidaysburg taxpayers because the Trump Administration broke their promise, Shapiro said in the release.

Other school districts cited in the release include the Reading School District, which was granted over $20 million to replace and install new HVAC systems in three middle schools and make building repairs at seven different schools.

Reading is currently in the middle of these projects and is relying on the money that is owed to them by the federal government, Shapiro stated.

In addition, the Scranton School District was granted $104,000 to provide homeless students with backpacks, winter clothes, blankets and hygiene products. That project is now in limbo.

The lawsuit filed Thursday seeks to restore access to the pandemic relief aid for schools and alleges that 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. 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.

At 5:03 p.m. Friday, March 28, the U.S. Education Department sent a mass email to all “Chief State School Officers” attaching the rescission letter from Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the lawsuit states.

Schools were supposed to spend the last of the pandemic relief funds by January but many sought, and were granted, more time.

In announcing the Trump Administration’s decision to reverse course, 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 across the country.

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.”

In addition to Pennsylvania, 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.

Shapiro joined the lawsuit to ensure the federal government upholds its commitments to Pennsylvania, as the law requires.

“Congress and the federal government made a commitment to our students, and school districts across Pennsylvania started construction to make schools safer, delivered supplies to students, and invested to create more opportunity for our kids based on that commitment,” Shapiro said. “Now the Trump Administration is trying to renege on its commitments to our kids and leave Pennsylvania taxpayers holding the bag.”