State Ed. Dept.: Lafayette School Board Budget Passed Illegally

An attorney for the Louisiana Department of Education says the budget adopted and submitted to the state by the Lafayette Parish School Board was passed illegally.

The Daily Advertiser, who obtained a memo from attorney Joan Hunt, the education department's general counsel, reported the board did not follow state law properly when it adopted the budget for the new fiscal year.

The legislative auditor and Attorney General's office, who both offered opinions on the budget, said that if a chief executive's budget is changed significantly by a public body, then a new budget must be submitted to that body.

"The superintendent submitted a budget that was then substantially modified by the board and then passed at the same meeting," the memo says. "The process was thus not in accordance with law and it does not appear that a budget has been legally adopted."

[Daily Advertiser]