NOLA Schools to get $20M boost to address $36M budget mistake
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The New Orleans City Council is putting up $20 million to help NOLA Public Schools close a massive, looming budget shortfall over its current fiscal year, officials announced this week.
Why it matters: Unless the New Orleans school board can find more money to close the gap, it'll be sending smaller-than-expected checks to local public schools, which will then have to juggle the loss as they balance their own budgets.
Between the lines: NOLA PS interim CFO Nyesha Veal says the total shortfall is around $36 million, but accountants are still working their way through the mistakes that led to it.
- Those mistakes, officials have said, happened when district staffers incorrectly estimated revenue based on projected property and sales tax for a full calendar year rather than the district's fiscal year.
The intrigue: The timing of the agreement between NOLA PS and City Council "is no accident," said school board president Katie Baudouin.
- The move ends a 2019 lawsuit in which the school board said the city improperly kept some sales and property taxes that were intended to support schools, according to The Times-Picayune.
State of play: The $20 million will come in two installments between this year and next, and as part of the agreement, according to City Hall staff. The city will also give the school board:
- $3 million annually for the next decade to support Thrive Kids, a partnership program between NOLA PS and Children's Hospital that has connected thousands of New Orleans students with mental health care, or something similar;
- An additional $1 million annually for the next decade for career training through YouthForce NOLA, the New Orleans Career Center or similar programs;
- And casino support funds for education from Caesars, which Verite reports are usually around $2 million annually.
- The city also agreed to stop deducting fees from sales and property taxes it collects without school board approval.
What's next: The New Orleans City Council is expected to pass the city's 2025 budget during its meeting Thursday, with the school board funding as part of it.
- As for the school board, Baudoin said officials are still working to close the rest of the estimated $16 million gap.
Go deeper: NOLA Public Schools superintendent resigns amid budget mistake crisis
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that City Council will give the school board money to support youth mental health and career training programming, but has not guaranteed that funds will go to a specific program or nonprofit.