BATON ROUGE - The East Baton Rouge School Board is considering tightening its budget for the 2025-26 school year due to a predicted drop in enrollment numbers.

With fewer students projected to enroll Fall 2025, the school system said it expects a funding drop entering the next operating year, about a $5.6M decrease.

"As we review the enrollment trends over the past decade, we're seeing a decline," EBR Schools Chief Financial Officer Kelly Lopez said.

Lopez said the budget has an emphasis on dollars going into the classroom following the system's strategic plan:
-$11.6M to early childhood education
-$20.5M to literacy and foundational learning
-$15.5M to workforce development and career readiness
-$6.3M for school safety and security 
-$39.5M toward improving facilities

The school realignment plan closed nine school campuses and consolidating others.

"We're going to be able to defer a $129M deferred maintenance as part of closing some schools, realigning resources," EBR Schools Superintendent LaMont Cole said.

Lopez said the total general fund revenue is projected to decrease by $11.1M as compared to the 2024-2025 revised budget. Some members of the public voiced concerns about why the budget did not include pay raises for teachers.

"It feels like if we can continue to fund supersized central office, then we can find the dough for people who work with students," School Board President Shashonnie Steward said, reading off a public comment card.

Cole said those decisions will be made after a salary schedule study is conducted.

"We approved the RFP for the salary review tonight and so we are looking to study our salary schedule and perhaps do something if in fact the results yield that there are opportunities to provide raises, we want to do that," Cole said.

The board is expected to vote on the budget at the June 12 meeting.