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Orleans Parish staff outline $12 million fund balance, recommend spreading remaining dollars across new round of support
Summary
At the Nov. 18 accountability and charters committee meeting, Dr. Kelly Jordan said the district has $12,000,000 in fund balance but more than $8,000,000 is already committed this year, leaving roughly $5,000,000 recommended to be spread across the next round of school supports. She also highlighted a district-run high-dosage tutoring pilot with early reading and math gains.
Dr. Kelly Jordan, presenting the committee’s monthly school support update, said the Orleans Parish system currently reports a $12,000,000 fund balance but that more than $8,000,000 of that is already allocated to programs this school year, leaving “a little less than $5,000,000” available for additional school support.
Jordan said the board first began monthly fund-balance reporting under policy DCBB and that some committed expenditures—about $2,000,000 for high-cost grants and more than $1,000,000 for attendance grants—are already planned, which is why she recommended dispersing remaining funds over a third round of awards. “My recommendation will continue to be that we take that $5,000,000, spread it out over the course of round 3,” she said.
The recommendation is intended to bring the total annual spend for round 3 to roughly $6,000,000, Jordan said, and she warned the pool will be smaller in future years once one-time balances related to pandemic-era and other offsets are spent down.
Jordan also described internal operational changes: the district migrated several case-management functions into Salesforce on Sept. 2 to consolidate data and reduce reliance on external consultants. She said that migration improves data integration and efficiency for case managers while protecting student privacy.
On programs, Jordan highlighted partnerships with the Center for Restorative Approaches to convene restorative circles and a high-dosage tutoring pilot run in three district sites—Bethune, Ben Franklin and the Leah Chase School. Jordan said early indicators from i-Ready diagnostics showed improvement: “100% of HDT students at Bethune have improved at least one reading domain,” and Ben Franklin reported that 62% of tutored students advanced one reading level. Math gains were reported across the sites as well.
Board members pressed for timing and clarity on how quickly the $8,000,000 will be spent. Jordan said that amount is “directly tied to programs that are either currently happening or will be modified in December” and added that the board can expect those funds to be expended by June 30, 2026.
Next steps Jordan outlined include midyear diagnostics, regrouping tutoring cohorts, deepening coaching cycles, and efforts to improve family engagement and reporting. She also noted the district will present a request next month for renewal of a career center contract and that staff will continue refining reporting to make spending and remaining balances clearer to board members.
The committee did not take a vote on allocating the remaining balance at the meeting; Jordan’s recommendation was informational and will be considered in future budget discussions.
