BATON ROUGE — A dispute over school funding is putting pressure on some Louisiana school districts as classes resume statewide.

At the center of the issue is the Minimum Foundation Program, or MFP, which is how the state distributes money to local schools. The total amount each district receives is based on a formula tied to the number of students and their individual needs.

"It has a lot of different aspects to it to try and provide equity, to try and understand that certain students have different costs," Barry Erwin of the Council for a Better Louisiana said. "At the end of the day, it is a model that is used to distribute money to every local school district in the state."

In June, Gov. Jeff Landry ordered a $168 million cut from the MFP to provide teachers with a one-time pay stipend. That cut has reduced budgets in some districts, and not all of them can absorb the loss.

"You still have kids that are in poverty, and those kids do not need to be left behind," Rufus Nesbitt, an East Feliciana school board member, said.

Nesbitt's district is among those struggling to make the numbers work. Some districts have had to dip into savings to cover the gap.

Kevin Berken, vice president of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the issue still needs more examination. "We are going to have to look at and not give any predetermination as to whether or not pay raises can or cannot be done within the MFP," Berken said.

State Treasurer John Fleming believes some districts can find the money by cutting unnecessary spending. His office has identified districts spending hundreds of thousands of dollars at bars, liquor stores and restaurants.

"If we're going to raise indeed the salary of teachers or even just maintain an annual bonus, we really need a much more efficient, much more transparent and better use of funds," Fleming said. "Strictly speaking, that's not allowed."

The legislative committee is expected to finish its research into the MFP by the end of the year and present its findings to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.