JACK SILBERBERG • REPORTER@LACLEDERECORD.COM
CORRECTION
The July federal freeze did not cost the Literacy Council $479,000 for the year as noted in the headline and story. We had thought that number correct at the time of writing wtih the information that we had at the time, but learned this week (Aug. 11) that number was inaccurate.
Barsby explained that the Literacy Council received a $750,000 AmeriCorps grant over three years. By the April 2025 freeze, the organization had yet to receive $449,000 of that funding. $200,000 of that was later released. By the July federal freeze, the Literacy Council had not received the remaining $249,000 for 2025-2026.
So, the final amount the organization did not receive due to the July freeze was $249,000, not $479,000. It is still accurate to say that the AmeriCorps grant comprised most of the Literacy Council’s funding. We are sorry for the inaccuracy. We have also amended the title of this article as well as noted the update in our subsesquent August 13 article.
END OF CORRECTION
The Laclede County Literacy will have to drastically downsize due to a sudden loss in federal funding.
Executive Director Dr. Carol Barsby told the Record Thursday that The Laclede Literacy Council was going to lose $479,000 in revenue due to the recent freeze on federal K-12 education funding. This will have a severe impact on the organization’s operations and decimate its staffing.
The Record has previously reported on the Literacy Council’s trouble with federal funding this year. In April, the Record reported that a since-rescinded Trump administration executive order had led to the pausing of the council’s grant reimbursement portal, which sparked a financial crisis.
In May, the Record learned that the Literacy Council had been one of the few programs of its kind to survive federal cuts and had its reimbursement portal begin to work. Barsby had said then the program would have its funding through the end of July.
The Missouri Independent reported July 1 that the Trump administration had withheld $6.8 billion in funding meant for K-12 schools, affecting programs ranging from migrant education, before- and after-school programs and summer school programs, and grants for adult literacy and education programs.
The Literacy Council is an adult literacy and education program, and the funding that the Council lost through this freeze compromises around 90 percent of its budget. $400,000 of that went towards salaries for the organization’s employees. The Council will now go from 17 employees to one – Barsby.
She said that some of her employees will volunteer until the end of the month to assist their clients. Indeed, the organization would have to return to relying mainly on volunteers.
This downsizing, Barbsy said, will mean significantly less graduates from the Literacy Council’s High School Equivalency Test program. She feared that with one less resource like the Literacy Council in the area, more community members would turn to emergency services for their needs.
The Independent’s article reported a statement from the Office of Management and Budget on the freeze.
While the OMB spokesperson said the freeze was an ongoing review of education funding with no decisions made, they said initial findings found that many such grant programs had been “grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda.”
