A New Orleans Civil District Court judge today dismissed the $90 million settlement between the city of New Orleans and the public school system, but ordered the city to pay the schools $10 million.
NOLA.com reports Judge Nicole Sheppard ruled in favor of the Mayor LaToya Cantrell's argument that the settlement had never been finalized. The judge also found that the $10 million dollars in the 2205 city budget does not count as a completed agreement.
However, the judge also said that since that budget was passed and the mayor signed it, the schools are still owed that $10 million.
The school board sued the city in 2019, claiming the city was mishandling the tax revenue it was collecting on the board's behalf.
In November 2024, the schools and Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montaño, Cantrell's right-hand-man, announced they had reached a $90 million settlement. Half of the first $20 million installment was written into the city's 2025 budget.
Barely three months later, Cantrell declared the city would not pay that money and the settlement was invalid because she did not sign it. The mayor's announcement caught the school board and the city council, which approved the budget, off guard.
The mayor said the city could not afford the settlement, claiming the city did not have the money, and said the Trump administration's goal to cut federal funding to local governments put the city into a fiscal crisis.
That prompted the city council to pass an ordinance forbidding the use of city money to pay for the mayor's and other city officials' travel. That, in turn, prompted another lawsuit, this one filed by Mayor Cantrell against the council.
A hearing in that case is set for March 28 before Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Sidney Cates.
Related
