CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Facing a sudden loss of school district funding due to federal threats, a Cedar Rapids nonprofit is seeking new ways to generate income.

The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success partnered with the Cedar Rapids School District to support Black and biracial students’ college readiness. The Department of Education labeled the group “not in compliance” with the Civil Rights Act and threatened district funding.

Dr. Ruth White founded the nonprofit in 1989 after noticing unaddressed needs among minority students while teaching at Washington High School.

“They were not doing well,” said Dr. White. “They all kind of settled into the fact that they thought they were less than.”

Her nonprofit helped to show African American students their true potential while also helping to prepare them for college. The program expanded over the next 36 years, serving 110 students annually. This past year, the school board approved $66,000 to support the Academy’s work.

“It’s a lot of money, no two ways about it,” she said.

The board pulled that funding at last week’s meeting after the US Department of Education threatened to withhold millions of dollars in funding following an executive order President Trump signed in January to end “radical indoctrination in K-12 schools,” Citing Title VI.

“I’m old enough to know why the Civil Rights Act was passed in the first place,” said Dr. White. “I realize the ironic situation in which the powers that are, are in effect turning that legislation on its head.”

Dr. White said the cut was about half of the nonprofit’s total budget, which is used for salaries, programming, and general expenses. She doesn’t expect it to mean an immediate effect, but one that could come down the line.

“I think it will be a ripple effect,” she said. “I don’t know that the students that we have had in our program and would expect to come back to the program are even aware yet, but the word is getting out.”

White said they were entering uncharted territory going forward, but she noted that they were already in the process of seeking funding through alternative means.

“This will not break us,” said Dr. White.