2020 First Extraordinary Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 20
BY SENATOR CATHEY AND REPRESENTATI VE THOMPSON
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the state Department of Education to encourage and assist any public
school board identified as "financially at risk" to enter into cooperative agreements
with other public school boards for the provision of essential services.
WHEREAS, R.S. 17:10.1(D) requires the State Board of Elementary and Secondary
Education (BESE) to define and identify any city, parish, or other local school board
"financially at risk"; and
WHEREAS, the state Department of Education annually conducts a fiscal risk
assessment of the prior year's fiscal activities of each public school board; and
WHEREAS, the review results in each board being identified "in corrective action",
"monitor", or "no action"; and
WHEREAS, the May 2019 fiscal risk assessment report on the fiscal activities of
2017-2018 found 20 of the 175 public school boards with general fund balances of less than
five percent and labeled "in corrective action"; and
WHEREAS, many of the systems "in corrective action" have operated with a deficit
at least once in the last five years; and
WHEREAS, these systems are at risk of not being able to provide basic student
services or meet their financial obligations; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 17:100.2 allows school boards to enter into multiparish compacts
"to pool their resources, administrative, instructional or otherwise, and to allocate funds" for
the improvement of education; and
WHEREAS, entering into cooperative agreements with other public school boards
for the provision of essential services could reduce costs and increase efficiencies for all
systems in the agreement; and
WHEREAS, any savings derived from such cooperative endeavors could be
reinvested to help ensure continuous, robust student services.
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THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the state Department of Education to encourage and assist any public school
board identified as "financially at risk" to enter into cooperative agreements with other
public school boards for the provision of essential services.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
state superintendent of education.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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