Acadia Parish officials warn freeze on federal draws may force district to front Head Start and other programs

Acadia Parish school officials told the school board in January that a federal pause on drawdowns has left the district unable to pull federal reimbursements and may force the general fund to cover expenses for Head Start, IDEA and other federal programs until the pause is resolved.

“Accounting is a little bit behind … we’re showing revenue at around 39.79% and expenditures at 46.68%,” Justin, a staff member, said while presenting the budget-to-actual report. He warned that an administrative order halting federal drawdowns meant the district could not request reimbursements for program costs and that the general fund could temporarily need to front cash.

The district said it expected “to draw down right at 15.3 from now until June 30,” but the presentation did not specify units for that figure. Justin also said the district still is paying staff and program costs and therefore cannot draw down the federal funds while the pause is in effect.

John, a staff member, said a judge had temporarily blocked part of the federal action and described that as a potential short-term reprieve: “The silver lining is it may be temporarily placed on a halt for at least a week,” he said.

Separa…