NOLA-PS officials vow to help schools after funding error | Education

Orleans Parish School Board members acknowledged an accounting error in the district that could cause financial damage to schools across the city and asked district officials to provide relief to schools affected by the funding error.

“We can’t make them whole, but we want to try to make this as seamless as possible,” board member Leila Eames said at a meeting Tuesday, “because this is our fault, not theirs.”

Earlier this month, the district’s finance team told some school leaders that the district’s tax revenue projections had been incorrectly exaggerated. Last week, district officials said the projections were incorrectly calculated based on the annual year, rather than the fiscal year.

Some school leaders estimate that schools could receive at least $20 million less than they bargained for this year because of the error. The shortfall, which amounts to about $600 per student, comes after schools hired staff and launched programs this school year based on inflated funding projections.

During Tuesday’s board meeting, NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Avis Williams said her team is exploring ways to protect schools from negative impacts resulting from the district’s miscalculation, including finding other funding sources for schools to reduce the deficit.

“I take responsibility for this happening,” Williams said, “because it happened under district supervision.”

NOLA Public Schools, which oversees the city’s independently run charter schools, acknowledged the error last week and said the district was working with the city of New Orleans to determine the exact miscalculation.

Nyesha Veal, the district’s interim chief financial officer, told the board Tuesday that the superintendent, finance team and others will meet Wednesday to discuss options to ease the burden on schools and improve communication between districts and schools. Veal replaces former CFO Stuart Gay, who resigned earlier this month.

Board member Nolan Marshall suggested convening a group of city officials and business experts to advise the district on how to ensure future revenue projections are accurate.

The Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools warned the district in a letter last week that the district’s revenue miscalculation would have “immediate consequences” for schools and students.

On Tuesday, association president Caroline Roemer said she was encouraged by the solutions offered at the meeting.

“I’m glad this board and the district are recognizing the mistake and talking about what they’re going to do,” she said.

“Unfortunately, they should have done this months ago,” she added, “but at least tonight everyone is on the same page that there is a crisis.”