As the Trump administration moves to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, BPS officials say a “very significant” portion of the district’s funding and programs could be under threat from federal cuts and restrictions.

“We are keeping a very close eye on about $100 million of federal funding, which is about two thirds of what we call our external fund, the funds we receive from sources outside of the general fund,” Interim Chief Financial Officer David Bloom said at a School Committee meeting Thursday, answering how much BPS funding could be at risk. “That’s about 6% of our overall funding. But it is very significant.”

On Thursday, President Trump signed an executive order calling the Secretary of Education to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities” as permitted by law, building on prior major cuts to the department’s workforce, Office for Civil Rights and the Institute of Education Sciences.

At a BPS budget hearing hours after the order, Boston School Committee members called for answers to how the district may be impacted by the ongoing federal rollback.

Outside of the direct education funding, BPS officials said Thursday, the district could also be hit by changes to USDA funding for food or various state funding streams impacted.

“There are also a number of competitive grants that come through the state that we might not think of as federally funded, but are sourced from the federal government,” said Bloom.

BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper said “in terms of future forecasting for the Title dollars at this point,” the conversation is not focusing on funding “going away because they are Congressionally approved.” Instead, she explained, changes to how the money is distributed could “impact our ability and flexibility of how we would use those dollars.”

The Trump administration has not given specifics on how the dismantling may roll out, but stated the federal department will retain “core necessities,” like distributing Title I funding for low-income schools and special education funding.

Skipper said there have been “very productive good conversations happening in the philanthropic community” regarding supporting the district as federal threats emerge.

“As we see either grants targeted or terminated or down-scaled, whatever that might be, we’re going to be in constant communication,” said Skipper. “I also think we’re, truthfully, going to have to have really good fiscal tools and management going into this cycle. So that if we see a grant or portions of a grant come away, we have the ability to take measures to be able to control the budget for the remainder of that year.

“We’re hoping not to have to use them,” she added. “But I think, just given the uncertainty of the landscape that could be a possibility.”

In terms of specific programs, Skipper answered that the district’s multilingual learners funding from federal two-year grants is “safe” for now because its already been allocated for the next year.

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District officials said they are planning for a similar level of federal funding currently, while working with nationwide colleagues to anticipate potential changes. BPS staff intend to return with “a little bit more of a forecast” on what funding may be impacted in May, Bloom said, but the outlook is still “changing day by day.”

“We have substantial threats to our budget going forward,” said member Michael O’Neill. “We’re going to have a serious period in front of us. There’s no question about that.”