Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield joined 14 other states last Friday in suing to block the Trump administration from terminating a billion-dollar federal school mental health grant program by the end of July 2026.

The lawsuit matters for Bethany-area families because the Beaverton School District relies on a blend of federal, state, and local funding to staff counselors, psychologists, and social workers at schools including Westview, Sunset, and Mountainside. Whether BSD directly receives money from this specific grant program is unclear, but any reduction in federal mental health dollars could squeeze a district already facing declining enrollment and rising costs.

The lawsuit

The case, Washington v. U.S. Department of Education (No. 2:26-cv-02409), was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

It targets the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program, which Congress created in 2022 after the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers.

By 2023, the program had funded mental and behavioral health services to nearly 775,000 students nationwide, according to federal data cited by the Beaverton Valley Times. Some 339 entities across the country received five-year awards under the program, according to Education Week.

The 15 states joining the suit are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The U.S. Department of Education told grantees in April 2025 that funding would be halted because their programs conflicted with Trump administration priorities, specifically citing connections to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

A coalition of 17 Democratic attorneys general first sued in July 2025, and a court issued a permanent injunction ordering the administration to stop the grant terminations. A December 2025 court order reinforced that directive.

The states say the administration is defying that order. The new lawsuit was filed to cover gaps in the earlier injunction that could allow the administration to halt funding by month's end.

"The courts have repeatedly ruled that the Trump Administration does not have the power to arbitrarily revoke grant funding that provides critical mental health services to our students," Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said. "Still, the federal government continues its attempts to terminate funding."

Congress set aside at least $164 million for the two school mental health grant programs in its fiscal year 2026 budget, passed in February 2026, according to Education Week.

Local context

BSD's Student Success Teams at area high schools include school psychologists, social workers, drug and alcohol counselors, and behavioral health paraeducators.

The district has flagged student mental health as a priority, launching a "Believe You Matter" initiative for 2025-26 after surveys showed high schoolers reporting lower rates of belonging than younger students.

New Superintendent Tony Smith, who took over Oregon's second-largest district in July 2026, inherits those financial pressures alongside the mental health mandate.

How to follow along

Families who want to weigh in on mental health staffing or federal funding impacts can check the BSD school board calendar at beaverton.k12.or.us/school-board for upcoming public comment meetings.

The board's next scheduled session is tomorrow, July 14.