Vermilion Parish School district close to having balanced budget

The news about the operating budget for the 2025-26 school year was mostly positive, as presented by Superintendent Tommy Byler. 
The school district operates with a budget of $93 million. During last week’s school board meeting, Byler forecasted that the budget would be only $160,000 under budget.
“Being $160,000 short of a $93 million budget isn’t bad,” said Byler. “I know other districts projected to be $2 million short.”
The school district has lost around 1,100 students over the last three years, resulting in a reduction of around 40 teachers, compared to three years ago.
Last year’s budget was just over $93 million, and Byler is predicting the number to be around $93 million again for this school year.
Byler said every department trimmed the fat and is operating on a streamlined budget. 
Despite the budget being almost balanced, school board members shared their vision for the future of education. With oil and gas revenue drying up because there are no oil or gas wells on property owned by the school district, and students leaving the public school system at a rapid pace, changes are going to have to be made, three board members said.
School Board member Dr. David Dupuis, who was once mayor of Gueydan, said, “We are going to have to make some tough decisions that are not going to be popular. But we are going to have to make them.”
School Board member Nick Touchet added, “We stopped a lot of bleeding this year. However, we know more is coming.”
Then the dreaded word that no one wants to hear was uttered by a school board member: “consolidation.”
School board member Kibbie Pillette discussed consolidating some schools to save money.
“We may have to look at consolidation,” said Pillette. “You listen to Mr. Byler’s report and hear the number of students who have left the school system,  which is a lot of students.  It is becoming increasingly difficult for the school district to create a balanced budget each year. 
“We are going to come to a point where the money we have is going to get tougher to operate the school system,” Pillette added. “Because of that, we are going to have to fix our school system to operate with the money we have. That may mean closing schools.”