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La. schools brace for possible cuts Trump administration withholds $7B nationally
BY PATRICK WALL
Staff writer
Louisiana schools are bracing for potentially painful cuts, including to after-school programs and teacher training, after the Trump administration said this week that it is withholding nearly $7 billion in education grants. About 22,000 Louisiana students attend summer and after-school programs funded by the grants, advocates said. The federal money, which Congress approved earlier this year, also pays for programs for summer learning, migrant students, English learners, adult literacy, arts and science education
and violence prevention in schools across the country. Schools had expected to receive the money on July 1, as required by federal law, which would allow them to plan and budget for the fall. Instead, the U.S. Department of Education told states in a brief memo Monday that it would not release the funds until it had reviewed the grant programs, adding that funding decisions for the upcoming school year have not yet been made. Louisiana could lose out on more than $109 million, or about 14% of its federal K-12 education funding, if the Trump administration does not restore the grant money,
according to an estimate by the Learning Policy Institute, which conducts education research. A Louisiana Department of Education spokesperson said the agency is still reviewing the funding amounts and could not immediately confirm that figure. The indefinite funding freeze, which comes as schools finalize spending plans and staffing for next school year, has caused confusion and left school leaders in limbo as they prepare for the possibility of big budget gaps and disruptive program cuts. “It really caught us all off guard,”
STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
Louisiana schools are bracing for potentially painful cuts after the Trump administration said this week that it is withholding nearly $7 billion in ä See SCHOOLS, page 5A education grants.
Overcrowded shelter waives adoption fees
Spending bill could boost La. federal funds Oil, gas money for coastal projects may increase
BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
A trio of 6-month-old terrier-mix siblings stand at the gate of their enclosure on Wednesday at the Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center.
More than 100 animals waiting for homes BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer
Hershey, a playful Labrador retriever, along with Lucy Lou, a super snuggler, are just two of the many pets hoping to be re-homed at Lafayette’s Animal Shelter and Care Center during an empty-the-shelter event. From July 5-19, the shelter, at 410 Dugas Road, is waiving all adoption fees for cats and dogs. Each pet comes neutered, microchipped and vaccinated. Adoptions slow down during the summer months, according to shelter supervisor Shelley Delahoussaye. The shelter has more than 100 animals waiting to be adopted, from small, medium and large dogs as well as cats. During the summer-
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Lynn Green, the adoption, foster, rescue and volunteer supervisor at the Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center, walks Hershey on Wednesday. time, Delahoussaye said, is when problem, said Lynn Green, adoption rescue supervisor. adoption is needed the most. Recently, the shelter has been takAlthough the new shelter on Dugas Road, which opened in 2021, is ing in nearly a dozen pets per day, larger than the old one on Pont des ä See SHELTER, page 5A Mouton Road, overcrowding is still a
A measure that would increase the amount of money Louisiana receives from offshore oil and gas production has survived the Senate version of the One Big Beautiful Bill making its way toward a final vote in Congress, potentially boosting federal funds dedicated to the state’s coastal protection and restoration plans. While the larger bill has fueled the country’s divisions, leading to warnings over its projected ballooning of the deficit and its cuts to programs like Medicaid, the litINSIDE tle-known change in offshore revenue disbursements marks a victory in Louisiana’s yearslong efforts on the issue. Louisiana’s congressional delegation has led a charge to increase the state’s share of revenue collected by the federal government from offshore production. The additional money would help address a steep decline in coast- House Speaker Mike al protection funds in Johnson, R-Benton the coming years as billions flowing to the ä GOP leaders in the state from the 2010 House are working to win BP Deepwater Hori- over holdouts and pass zon oil spill settlement Trump’s spending bill. expire. Page 6A The Trump administration’s cost-cutting and intent to shift more of the burden onto states has sounded an additional alarm for coastal Louisiana parishes, which have relied heavily on FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to either proactively prevent or respond to flooding and intensifying storms. The provision included in the One Big Beautiful Bill changes aspects of what is known as GOMESA, or the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act. The change could mean up to around $50 million per year extra for Louisiana over a decade. That amount falls far short of what is needed for Louisiana’s coastal protection and its efforts to address the state’s land loss crisis, but it is progress nonetheless. Longer term, state officials
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ä See BILL, page 5A
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