An existing budget deficit of around $500,000 at the Leah Chase School is only expected to get worse, according to a projection from the New Orleans public school district’s financial office.
In estimates presented to the Orleans Parish School Board during a Tuesday (Oct. 28) committee meeting, the deficit will grow to $1.5 million in the 2027-2028 school year if the district decides to integrate new programming — such as an arts program — that will make the school, which is currently below its enrollment target, more appealing to parents.
Leah Chase, which opened in the fall of 2024, is the only district-run school in the district. Last month, NOLA Public Schools district Chief Financial Officer Nyesha Veal announced that the school was projected to overspend its 2025-2026 school year budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Then, earlier this month (Oct. 8), the school’s founding principal, Crystal LaFrance, abruptly resigned…