Hindman Settlement School Asks for Help After DOGE Cuts Funding Aimed at Helping Dyslexic Students

April 30, 2025

From the Hindman Settlement School Web site

A Kentucky school is seeking donations to keep programs for students with dyslexia after the Department of Education cut its funding.

Hindman Settlement School announced on Tuesday that it lost the federal grant funding for its reading and math intervention programs.

According to its website, Hindman Settlement School’s intervention programs partner with AmeriCorps to offer 30 minutes of personalized instruction to dyslexic K-8 students each day.

The school says on Facebook that the funding loss accounts for one-third of its annual budget, but it will not impact the majority of its work.

“While the loss of this funding won’t impact the majority of the good work we do in our community, we are deeply committed to serving the children of this region," the school said on Facebook.

Hindman Settlement School says it has the money to continue the programs through the end of the school year, but would prefer to raise the $250,000 needed to keep them going.

“The impact of these programs is immeasurable and simply allowing them to be eliminated is not an option," the school said on its website. “The area we serve in rural Appalachia is traditionally underserved, and few additional resources are available for children with the greatest need.”

To donate or for more information on Hindman’s programs, click here.

Hindman Settlement School reported,

"This past weekend we received the devastating news the federal funding for our reading and math intervention programs for children has been eliminated by the Department of Government Efficiency, effective immediately. These grant funds, provided through AmeriCorps, represent roughly one-third of our annual operating budget. While the loss of this funding won’t impact the majority of the good work we do in our community, we are deeply committed to serving the children of this region.

Our Board of Directors has authorized funding, if needed, to sustain these two programs through the remainder of the school year.

Our preferred approach is to raise the $250,000 needed to sustain these programs through community support. We invite you to join in this effort. Both our Board of Directors and staff activity working on a long-term strategy to deal with this situation and, as in past, we are confident we will come together to solve the problem together.

To make a gift or pledge and to learn more about what you can do to help, please visit www.hindman.org. Thank you for standing with us and the children and families we serve."