Board committee: Leah Chase School faces multimillion-dollar shortfall unless enrollment rises

The Orleans Parish School Board budget and finance committee heard Tuesday that Leah Chase School is unlikely to be financially sustainable without a substantial rise in student enrollment.

CFO Naisha Veil told the committee the district modeled three options for operating Leah Chase and warned each carries a material deficit at current enrollment levels. "Based on 468 students, Model B shows a projected deficit of about $2,044,000," Veil said, adding that a more resource-intensive Model C could produce a deficit "about 3 and a half million" dollars unless the school reaches much higher enrollment.

The presentation laid out key drivers: a certified net taxable assessment the district is using in revenue calculations of $5,583,000,000; an assumed 95% property-tax collection rate used for near-term revenue estimates; and reliance on sales-tax receipts that were unusually high last year because of one-time events. Veil also said staff estimated the district could see about $240.3 million in local revenue at a 95% collection assumption. She cautioned that per-pupil allocations the district used for planning could fall from roughly $94.35 this year to $94.16 next year under current assumptions.

Board members pressed for clarity on enrollment and retention. Enrollment staff said 70 applicants had been received as of the day before the meeting, with 22 listing Leah Chase as their first choice; staff also reported 20 students have initiated applications to leave. "We are telling schools the district is projecting 9,300," Veil said when describing systemwide planning assumptions, and urged the committee to consider differentiated counts and midyear adjustments.

Superintendent Dr. Fatima Fulmore and other board members framed the problem as both fiscal and programmatic. Fulmore noted past use of reserves and start‑up funding to open the school, but said such support is limited now: "We spent our money last year addressing nearly $50,000,000 in deficits left by a previous administration," she said, arguing the district cannot sustain indefinite operating deficits without clear board direction on priorities and tradeoffs.

Several members urged more active recruitment and community outreach. One committee member framed the issue bluntly: unless families choose Leah Chase, "we will continue to have a significant deficit, and that would then take away from all the other students across the district." Others suggested exit surveys, clearer messaging about the school’s arts and extracurricular offerings, and using a planning retreat or facilitated session to set program goals and fiscal limits.

A motion to add a retreat to the committee agenda — and thereby vote on it today — failed when members could not secure unanimous agreement to amend the agenda. Counsel advised that adding the action as a formal item required unanimity to place it on today’s committee agenda; the motion did not reach that threshold and therefore failed.

The committee asked the administration to continue weekly updates on enrollment counts as NCAP results arrive and to return with further retention analysis, cost items tied to each model and clearer scenarios for how program changes would affect projected deficits. The committee did not vote to close or to change Leah Chase’s operational status; members said any decision will depend on enrollment trends and the board’s collective appetite for recurring deficits.

What’s next: The administration will update the committee and board as NCAP application data and final enrollment counts are received. The board indicated it will consider whether to schedule a planning retreat or a special session to set policy and financial guardrails for direct-run schools.

Sources: Presentation and answers to board questions by CFO Naisha Veil; remarks from Superintendent Dr. Fatima Fulmore; enrollment update from district enrollment staff.