The Education Department’s civil rights branch is losing nearly half its staff in the Trump administration’s layoffs, effectively gutting an office that already faced a backlog of thousands of complaints from students and families across the country.

A commuter walks past the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Eduction, which were ordered closed for the day for what officials described as security reasons amid large-scale layoffs, Wednesday, March 12,

The latest cuts further compound funding and staffing shortages that have plagued the Office of Civil Rights. The effects of these changes on the most vulnerable public school students will likely be felt for many years.