St. Landry Schools may request $6M credit line while waiting for COVID reimbursements

St. Landry Parish school officials are considering the possibility of obtaining a credit line of at least $6 million to cover ongoing maintenance and capital outlay costs for COVID-19 relief-funded projects, until reimbursement money can be obtained from state officials.

Finance Director Shaun Grantham presented a finance committee with the option of establishing the credit line Monday night after committee members reviewed an updated list of current expenditures that District officials say will eventually be covered from Elementary and Secondary School relief money funneled through the State Department of Education.

The line of credit issue is expected to be discussed further during a regular board meeting scheduled next week.

Overall the District is scheduled to receive about $110 million in ESSER funding. About a third of that money has already been used to pay for COVID mitigation at school sites, while the remaining packages of funding labeled ESSER II and ESSER III, are being used for air quality, exterior door and window improvements and roofing at schools.

The completion deadlines for the ESSER II and ESSER III projects, District school officials have said, are September of 2023 and 2024.

While Grantham and Curriculum Director Angela Cassimere told the Committee they expect state officials will eventually provide the funding for the approved ESSER II and ESSER III projects, the District has been using general fund revenues to pay the costs.

According to a statement listing the overall expenditures, the District has already spent $1.36 million for ESSER II projects, while using another $1 million for improvements that are scheduled to be paid with ESSER III funds.

The District has received $1.125 million from the state to pay for ESSER II projects and nothing for those in the ESSER III category, the list of payments indicates.

Cassimere said the delay by the state to reimburse the District for the list of ESSER projects could be caused by State Department of Education personnel issues.

“Right now it appears the (Department of Education) is understaffed. We (the District) have a clean line, that is, our requests for reimbursement for all the ESSER projects has been aligned with the state without any questions,” Cassimere said.

Cassimere said it also has been taking state officials an extended period of time to determine the validity of projects proposed from St. Landry and other school districts.

“These are new federal and state dollars and the requests for them have to be aligned with what is being approved,” Cassimere added.

Grantham assured the Committee that the District will receive all the money that is being requested to finance the ESSER projects.

“We are currently spending money (from the general fund) and not getting reimbursed. Although we keep putting out this money, the money (for the ESSER projects) is guaranteed. It’s coming to us,” Grantham said.

However, Grantham said she is recommending consideration for the credit line.

“If we don’t get the money in time, then we will need a line of credit. If we use it, we get (the money back). I don’t think we should lose the opportunity to pay for improvements to our schools,” Grantham said.

Grantham emphasized that if board members decide to approve creating a line of credit, the money won’t be used for other purposes.

Grantham was unable to provide the Committee with a schedule of potential interest rates associated with the credit line.

“We don’t plan to touch (the money in the line of credit). We will use the money only if we need it,” Grantham said.

St. Landry Superintendent Patrick Jenkins did not attend any Monday committee meetings.

This article originally appeared on Opelousas Daily World: St. Landry schools may take loan while waiting for ESSER reimbursement