Lafourche School Board OKs $153M budget

The Lafourche Parish School Board approved a $153 million spending plan for this school year.

The district’s business manager, Don Gaudet, released the budget for the 2010 fiscal year at a special board meeting last Monday.

Spokesman Floyd Benoit said a public hearing was held before the vote to approve the budget; however, no Lafourche residents were in attendance.

The $153 million budget represents a 5 percent cut – or $7 million less – than last year’s numbers, Gaudet said.

The school district earned less state and federal money because of declining enrollment figures.

The largest revenue stream for the Lafourche Parish School Board remains the state’s Minimum Foundation Program, which provides money to school districts across Louisiana. Funding from that program decreased by $2.5 million to about $70 million, according to Gaudet. Last year, Lafourche’s public schools received $72.3 million.

The state’s formula for issuing MFP money is based on student enrollment, Benoit said.

Lafourche Parish schools enrolled 14,840 students last year. The number slightly dropped to 14,700, according to this school year’s first-day estimates. That number is expected to rise in the near future, school board members said at their monthly meeting on Sept. 2.

The amended budget presented June 30 indicated the school district’s expenses were approximately $160.9 million. The total fund was roughly $51.4 million.

Expenses in the newest budget are expected to be $157.8 million, Gaudet said.

“Indirect cost estimates included in the General Fund are always set to the total amount paid through grants,” he explained. “The total was known by Aug. 19, so the prior year’s budget estimate was used instead.”

Gaudet said keeping the budget within acceptable parameters is a non-stop effort.

“Superintendent (JoAnn) Matthews and her staff will work diligently during this fiscal year to make sure we operate as efficiently as possible,” he said.

Additional surplus dollars are still available to the school district in the General Fund. However, that total has declined dramatically over time. The fund totaled around $9.1 million in 2007 but is expected to reach $1.4 million this year.

However, federal stimulus monies bound for Lafourche schools are not included in the tally, according to Gaudet. He said those totals will be added later.