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.

Separately, the board received a Head Start update. The Head Start director told the board the program has proposed reducing funded enrollment by 17 slots while keeping federal funding levels so it meets a full-enrollment requirement. The program also received a funding-guidance letter in December and is preparing a baseline application due April 1; the director said the “funding level that they’re applying for is close to $350,000” (the director’s remark was recorded as an approximate figure).

Board members and staff discussed the district’s student count deadline for state funding (the Feb. 1 MFP count). Staff warned that any students removed from district rolls before the Feb. 1 count would reduce the district’s MFP allocation, in some cases by half for those individual pupils. Justin said the district’s most recent internal check showed enrollment down by about 50 students compared with the Oct. 1 count.

During the meeting the board also voted to adopt revisions to two personnel policies, changes the superintendent said were required to implement mandatory-reporting and annual-reporting procedures under state law. The policy updates affect “GAAA (Title VII employee harassment)” and “GAEAA (Title IX harassment)” (policy nomenclature as presented to the board). The superintendent said the revised wording requires the superintendent to compile an annual report by Feb. 1 describing the district’s compliance with Louisiana Revised Statutes 42:344, including the number and percentage of employees who completed required training and the number and disposition of harassment complaints.

Motion to approve the policy revisions was made by Mr. Hebert and seconded by Ms. Atkinson. The board chair called for the ayes and announced the motion carried; the meeting record shows the motion passed as announced.

The superintendent also briefed board members at length on district assessment data and midyear interventions. She said she and the curriculum team have begun individual, school-level data-review meetings with principals and supervisors at 21 of 26 schools to pinpoint specific instructional needs. The superintendent described targeted supports — lead teachers, federal program facilitators and school supervisors — who are conducting classroom walk-throughs, modeling instruction and helping design professional development that responds to each school’s identified weaknesses. She said the district moved to a new math curriculum (Eureka) this year and is adjusting pacing and sequencing in response to teacher feedback.

District testing windows were reviewed: the superintendent said DIBELS and LEAP windows open in April for the relevant grades and reminded principals that third graders are subject to DIBELS as well as LEAP testing and to the district’s retention policy where applicable. The superintendent said schools are already using federal tutoring dollars and other supports to provide targeted interventions before testing.

The board did not take any additional funding votes at the meeting; staff said the district will monitor the federal litigation and guidance and return to the board if the drawdown pause creates an immediate cash shortfall that requires formal board action.

Ending

District staff said they will submit the Head Start baseline application by the April 1 deadline and continue recruitment for vacant Head Start slots. The board will watch federal guidance and court actions to determine whether the district must use reserve balances or request emergency action to cover reimbursable program costs until drawdowns resume.