The Senate Fiscal Review Committee voted July 30 to refer the Madison Parish School Board to the court for appointment of a fiscal administrator after auditors told the committee the district faces persistent cash-flow problems and several accounting issues.

The move follows a recommendation from Dr. Kate Brumley, transmitted by BESI leadership, after an audit by the Monroe accounting firm Allen Green and Williamson found significant missed grant reimbursements and ad hoc transfers that left restricted funds tapped and the general fund strained. "We were engaged in April 2025 by the Madison Parish School Board to assist them in completing their delinquent 2023–24 fiscal audit," Tim Green, CPA and partner at Allen Green and Williamson, told the committee. "Most of the things I'm going to share with you today have been discussed…in the last three months."

Auditors described several key problems that the school district and the committee said together justify fiscal administration. Christie Lofton, a staff accountant with Allen Green and Williamson, told the committee the district paid a one-time stipend in November and that many supply and technology costs had been incurred earlier but not submitted for reimbursement. "They had a one-time stipend in November to pay out basically the funds," Lofton said, and those earlier expenditures could not later be reimbursed from ESSER once the stipend used the remaining grant balance.

The auditors reported an initial unreimbursed ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) amount of roughly $950,000 that was later narrowed to about $818,000 through reclassification of some expenses. Auditors also said the payroll fund received an $875,003 transfer from the child nutrition (school food service) fund; auditors characterized that transfer as a loan that leaves the general fund owing the child nutrition fund. In addition, auditors said roughly $640,000 was moved from a workers' compensation fund into payroll earlier this year.

Those transfers and the delayed grant-reimbursement requests left the district with markedly lower available cash. Auditors showed the general fund balance at about $808,000 on a recent date but estimated a projected fiscal-year loss between $2.8 million and $3.5 million compared with the June 2023 unassigned balance of roughly $4 million. Tim Green warned the committee the district faces a difficult cash stretch in late summer and early fall as grant reimbursements slow: "We're gonna go through some tough periods coming up…our payroll is right at a million dollars, $950,000 or so per month."

School board members who attended the hearing told the committee they had already voted to request fiscal administration. "What Mr. Green said was we need swift action to rectify and change course and someone who's willing and able to make those hard decisions," Shelly Crawford, a Madison Parish School Board member, said in support of the referral. Superintendent Dr. Charlie Butler told the committee he supported the appointment and understood a fiscal administrator’s decisions could supersede local management.

Tavares Walker, executive director for BESI, explained the board president used BESI policy to make the referral while the full board remains out of session; BESI’s action will be ratified at the board’s August meeting. Tony Leggi, executive counsel for the Department of Education, told the committee that, based on the submitted materials (including the board resolution and the CPA report), Dr. Brumley recommended the matter be submitted for appointment of a fiscal administrator.

The committee approved the referral; members asked BESI and the Attorney General's office to prepare a draft motion to present to the parish court. The chair said the court will receive the motion and is expected to schedule a judicial hearing — the committee discussed a roughly 20-day window for the court process — at which a judge could appoint the fiscal administrator. Committee members emphasized the need to act quickly because school starts in the district on Aug. 11.

The committee’s action does not itself install an administrator or specify staffing changes; it sends a formal request into the judicial process. The auditors and school board representatives told the committee the short-term options include using upcoming ad valorem (property) tax receipts and temporarily reallocating certain annual receipts, but they also warned that those sources are limited and that personnel and operating cuts will likely be necessary to restore fiscal stability.

The committee noted the referral will be accompanied by the CPA's report, the school board’s resolution supporting fiscal administration and BESI’s written recommendation; the committee said it will work with the Attorney General’s office on documentation for the court filing. The committee then adjourned.