With the first day of school just weeks away, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer is urging the Department of Education to immediately release millions in frozen funding that supports mental health positions in local schools — including nearly $7.4 million for the Seneca Falls and Lyons school districts.
Schumer visited Seneca Falls High School to highlight the impact of the cuts, which stem from the Trump administration’s decision to terminate over $8 million in federal Mental Health Service Professionals (MHSP) grants across the Rochester–Finger Lakes region.
Hundreds of positions at risk
The MHSP program places graduate students earning mental health degrees directly in schools, filling much-needed counseling, crisis intervention, and violence prevention roles. Many later transition into full-time jobs in the same districts.
In Seneca Falls, $2.4 million in funding is frozen, potentially eliminating 90 counselor positions that serve nearly 8,000 students. Lyons is hit even harder — losing all $5 million of its award and risking 150 positions for close to 10,000 students.
Local school leaders say the program has been transformative. “It wasn’t just a line item in a budget that disappeared — it was trusted adults in schools, critical mental health supports, and a lifeline for students in crisis,” said Dr. Hennessey Lustica, project director for both districts.
Lyons Superintendent Dr. Matt Barr warned that ending the program would “mean fewer counselors in our halls, longer wait times for support, and more students slipping through the cracks.”
Call for urgent action
Schumer says the clock is ticking. “Protecting students’ mental health should not be a partisan issue,” he said. “These cuts put more than 27,000 students at risk across our region. The administration must reverse course immediately.”
If the freeze remains, the senator warned, rural districts like Seneca Falls and Lyons — already facing shortages of mental health providers — will lose critical services just as the school year begins.
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