Schools across Connecticut are scrambling to figure out how President Donald Trump’s order to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education will affect students.

The exact impact is still unclear, but some students could be affected much more than others.

On Thursday, Trump signed a sweeping executive order to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education.”

President Jimmy Carter formed the agency in 1979. It oversees trillions of dollars in grants to local schools, civil rights enforcement and student loans.

“We’re going to be returning education very simply back to the states where it belongs,” Trump said.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive from Greenwich, said DOE has not improved student outcomes in spite of its massive budget.

“He wants to improve education for children,” she told reporters. “He wants to get those dollars – even more dollars – back to the states without the bureaucracy of Washington.”

On Friday, Trump announced that other agencies will take over critical programs.

“Bobby Kennedy – the [Department of] Health and Human Services – will be handling special needs and all of the nutrition programs and everything else rather complex,” the president said. “I’ve decided that the SBA, the Small Business Administration, headed by Kelly Loeffler – a terrific person – will handle all of the student loan portfolio.”

Dismantling the department altogether would require an act of Congress.

Most education funding comes from local property taxes and state funding. But Connecticut schools still received $553 million from Washington during the 2023-24 school year, according to the School and State Finance Project.

Some districts have a lot more to lose than others.

While wealthy Darien only gets 1.1.% of funding from the feds, Bridgeport public schools receive almost 20%. And in Waterbury, it’s nearly a quarter of the local education budget.

That money goes to low-income schools, children with disabilities, student loans and Pell Grants for college.

Trump insisted that the money is safe.

“Pell Grants, Title I funding, resources for children with disabilities and special needs will be preserved – fully preserved,” he said.

Gov. Ned Lamont said he believes the administration.

“I think Title I and Title IX federal money keeps flowing,” he told News 12 Connecticut’s Power and Politics. “That’s what, at least, Linda McMahon, the new secretary of education – from Connecticut – assured me.”

But the state’s largest teachers’ union has its doubts – especially after the Department of Education fired half its staff last week. Connecticut and other blue states are challenging the firings in court.

“While the order itself does not actually close the Department of Education, it gives us a strong indication of where this administration is going to go in terms of public education,” said Connecticut Education Association President Kate Dias.

If Washington does cut education funding, it could lead to a nasty budget fight in Connecticut.

“We may have to declare a state of fiscal emergency for the state to be a stop gap and provide those services,” said Leonard Lockhart, head of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.

Fewer federal dollars could require Connecticut to dip into budget reserves, adjust the “fiscal guardrails” that cap spending – or even raise local property taxes.

“The state would have to step in and do a little bit more. Each community would have to do a little bit more,” Lamont said. “I don’t think it's going to be cut. That’s the assurance I've gotten from the secretary. I’d like to hold her to it.”

Schools could be in limbo for quite awhile. The administration’s plan is likely to be mired in lawsuits for months or even years.

“Dismantling the Department of Education is flat out illegal. It is immoral,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. “It will be fought successfully. It will not happen in the way that he’s suggesting.”

On Friday, a federal appeals court ordered the administration to resume handing out millions of dollars in grants earmarked for teacher shortages. The White House argued that the cuts are part of Trump’s effort to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.