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S at u r d ay, J u n e 13, 2026
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ST. LANDRY PARISH
Schools face closures amid financial crisis
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE LUIS MAGANA
Former LSU and Alabama football coach Nick Saban testifies before a Senate committee on June 3.
Congress eyes changes to college athletics Two bills would rein in sports spending, restrict transfers
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
The St. Landry Parish School Board is facing an $18 million budget shortfall.
STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Board plans special retreat to find solutions to $18 million budget shortfall
BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer
The St. Landry Parish School Board is convening for a special retreat this weekend as officials consider school closures and other cuts to address an $18 million budget shortfall. Following the failure of two ballot measures aimed at funding schools in the parish, the board will have to make budget cuts to stay in compliance with state law that requires its general fund to stay in the black. It could mean that schools across the parish might find themselves on the chopping block next school year. The board’s budgetary difficulties have long been mounting, and over the past two fiscal years have become unmanageable. Like many school districts across
Louisiana, St. Landry Parish has lost students as families have fewer children, move away or choose charter schools and homeschooling. But while enrollment has fallen significantly, the district’s staffing levels have not declined at the same pace. The board was able to offset its financial woes for several years thanks to a pandemic-era federal program known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief. Those funds were discontinued in September 2024, however, removing a substantial amount of funding from St. Landry’s schools budget. Shaun Grantham, who serves as the board’s financial director, has been sounding the alarm on the impending financial catastrophe. “I said two years ago, ‘The end of ESSER is going to be like falling off a financial cliff,’ ” Grantham told
the board during a June 2 committee meeting. “We finished fiscal year 2024-25 with a $6.7 million loss, and I told you then that we could not survive like this. I don’t see how we survive the end of this year.” The district currently operates more than 30 schools and has previously discussed consolidation as a way to reduce costs and address declining enrollment. The district entered the current fiscal year with a balance of $14 million in unassigned funds, according to its most recent audit. Grantham projects a loss of approximately $27.8 million for the district in the 2025-26 fiscal year. Even after factoring in $9.7 million in qualified school construction bonds, the district will not have enough money to
ä See CRISIS, page 5A
WASHINGTON — The push in Congress to revamp college athletics — including a “Lane Kiffin rule” to keep coaches from switching schools midseason — now involves two bills, with one championed by House Majority “President Leader Steve Scalise competing against another out of the Trump wants Senate. the House Both would rein in college and Senate to sports spending and restrict work through unlimited use of the transfer this to fix the portal — trends that have upended century-old traditions problem.” of amateur student-athletes playing for their schools on HOUSE MAJORITy LEADER STEVE scholarships. SCALISE, President Donald Trump has weighed in, urging lawR-Jefferson makers to reach a compromise, which would fall heavily on the Louisiana-dominated Republican House leadership. “President Trump wants the House and Senate to work through this to fix the problem,” said Scalise, R-Jefferson. In charge of the effort in the House is Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton. “We got to work it out. It’s so important for college athletics,” Johnson said Wednesday while visiting announcers at a congressional charity baseball game. At issue are college payments to studentathletes — which often range in hundreds of
ä See ATHLETICS, page 5A
SpaceX stock soars in debut
Law will require Safe Haven info in La. school bathrooms
BY BERNARD CONDON
BY JA’KORI MADISON
NEW YORK — Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire after shares of his rocket company SpaceX soared in Wall Street’s biggest initial public offering of stock. Shares in SpaceX jumped more than 19% after opening for trading at noon Friday, a sign that investors are looking past the billions the company is losing and instead betting that its massive Musk investments in satellites, orbital data centers and artificial intelligence will pay off in the future.
A Louisiana law requiring Safe Haven information to be posted in middle and high school bathroom stalls was inspired by a teenager who gave birth in secret, panicked and abandoned her newborn, according to the bill’s author. The state’s Safe Haven Law allows parents to anonymously relinquish physical custody of a child up to 60 days old at designated emergency care facilities and Safe Haven locations. House Bill 476, authored by Rep. Kellee Hennessy Dickerson, RDenham Springs, received unani-
Flyers would be for grades 7-12
Musk becomes first trillionaire
AP business writer
Staff writer
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By FRANK FRANKLIN II
Gwynne Shotwell, center, president and COO of SpaceX, celebrates with colleagues during a bell-ringing ceremony for the IPO of SpaceX at the ä See SPACEX, page 4A Nasdaq MarketSite in New york on Friday.
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mous approval during the Legislative session before being signed into law by Gov. Jeff Landry last week. The measure requires public schools serving grades 7-12 to post Safe Haven information in restroom stalls, including where and how a newborn can be safely surrendered and contact information for assistance. Dickerson said the legislation was prompted by a case involving a teenager in her district who gave birth without her family’s knowledge. According to Dickerson, the teen later placed the newborn in a tote bag after becoming scared and unsure of what to do. The infant was later found, and the teenager was arrested on multiple charges.
ä See LAW, page 4A
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