La. wants to use $20M in recovery funds for pre-K program

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration wants to shift $20 million in hurricane recovery dollars for hurricanes Gustav and Ike to fill in budget gaps in the state’s free preschool program for at-risk students. The proposal, which requires approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was posted this week for public comment. The hurricane recovery dollars were included in the $75 million annual budget for the Cecil J. Picard LA4 Early Childhood Program for the fiscal year that began July 1, a budget approved by lawmakers in June. Preschool access won’t expand with the money. The dollars will plug part of a budget hole created when federal stimulus funding that had been used for the program disappeared. The state pays the costs for 16,000 4-year-olds to enroll in the pre-K program, according to Barry Landry, spokesman for the state Department of Education. The hurricane recovery money would pay for at-risk students from 20 parishes that were damaged by Gustav and Ike, according to the proposal, which will be submitted to HUD in October. Louisiana received a more than $1 billion federal recovery block grant after hurricanes Gustav and Ike struck the state in September 2008, causing widespread damage by wind and water. The $20 million to be shifted to the pre-K program had been slated to help the state pay for its share of the costs for repairing damage to public buildings and facilities.