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EBR School Board hears $4.5M child-nutrition deficit; director outlines causes and corrective steps
Summary
Board members and the district’s new child nutrition director described a roughly $4.5 million deficit driven by wage and staffing changes after a 2023 labor dispute and declining enrollment, and outlined steps to restore fiscal stability without cutting meal quality.
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Aug. 21 was briefed on a child nutrition budget shortfall of roughly $4.5 million and heard a plan from the district’s new child nutrition director to stabilize the program while maintaining meal quality.
The district’s director for child nutrition, Ellen Hill, told the board the program entered the 2024–25 school year with a zero fund balance after prior-year spending and labor changes. Hill said the program started the 2023–24 school year carrying a deficit and that a combination of one-time stipends, multi-step pay increases and converting long-term part-time staff to full-time roles drove increased labor and benefit costs.
Hill said the stipend alone paid last year totaled about $1,500,000 and that additional step increases and converting part-time positions to full time added further payroll and benefits expense.…
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