The Education Department announced Thursday the distribution of $208 million in grants to the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration and School-Based Mental Health programs.

The department had previously canceled over 200 grants for mental health funding in schools from the Biden administration, arguing that those grants “placed ideology above serving students” and “prioritized the racial characteristics of providers and divisive ideologies” over mental health interventions, The Hill news outlet reported.

“Under the Biden Administration, it was more important to shape the racial and gender identities of mental health providers than it was to focus resources on high-quality, credentialed school psychologists who are best positioned to serve American students when they are at their most vulnerable,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.

“While there was doubt that the Trump administration could right this wrong and re-compete these dollars before the end of the year, we are proud to announce that we did exactly that. Today, over $200 million is being awarded directly to states and school districts to support student mental health – a meaningful win for our education system,” she added.

The new grants will go to 65 recipients that the Trump administration is encouraging to focus on “merit-based personnel hiring and evidence-based student services.” 

The purpose of the grants is to hire more school psychologists and build resources so they can continue after the awards are used. 

A total of $120 million of the grant funding will go to rural communities.