Beshear approves $14.7 million payment to cover funding shortfall for Kentucky schools

Monica Kast, Lexington Herald-Leader on Feb 13, 2025

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday authorized $14.7 million to cover part of a state funding shortfall for Kentucky public schools.

The move covers the portion of a $40.6 million state budget shortfall that needed to be made up immediately with cuts to local school districts.

Beshear’s announcement comes after earlier this week the Kentucky Department of Education said it was facing a shortfall for the 2024-25 academic year. The gap was in funding from Support Education Excellence in Kentucky, a formula-driven allocation model that provides money for Kentucky’s K-12 public schools.

School districts were told they would have to adjust their budgets in the coming days to account for the shortfall, which was expected to appear in the April, May and June payments from SEEK funds. For some districts, including Fayette County, that meant cutting hundreds of thousands of dollars mid-school year to adjust.

But on Thursday, Beshear announced he was authorizing a $14.7 million request from Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher to cover part of the budget gap. Beshear said that amount is the maximum he can approve under the state budget bill.

“We were able to get the final numbers earlier than originally expected, which allows us to fill this budget hole so that our schools can plan appropriately,” Beshear said. “So to all of our public educators: We care about you, we love you, we need you. I hope that I can bring more funding in the future.”

Matt Ross, an associate commissioner in the Office of Finance and Operations for the Kentucky Department of Education, said Tuesday at a legislative subcommittee meeting there is a $14.7 million shortfall in the parts of SEEK that are required by law to be paid to districts, and an additional shortfall of $26 million for funding to public school districts that should be paid if funds are available.

It was not immediately clear if districts would need to make cuts for the other $26 million. Fletcher said he and the Kentucky Department of Education were continuing to discuss future funding options with lawmakers.

“On behalf of Kentucky’s public schools, we express our sincere appreciation to Governor Beshear,” Fletcher said Thursday. “His decision to increase the SEEK appropriation, based on the language in House Bill 6, allows the Kentucky Department of Education to fully fund the statutorily required SEEK payments of $14.7 million to Kentucky’s public schools.”

Fletcher said one of the reasons for the current shortfall is that there are 4,000 more students enrolled than department of education officials had projected. He said the English Language Learners population had “exploded,” and the number of special needs students had also increased. Additionally, expected increases in property value assessments did not occur, Fletcher said.

Kentucky has 171 school districts. Before the request was authorized, Chay Ritter, director of Kentucky’s Division of District Support, said districts would have to make adjustments to their budgets mid-year to account for the shortfall.

Jefferson County Public Schools, the largest school district in the state, had been told to cut $1.3 million, said Chay Ritter, director of Kentucky’s Division of District Support.

Fayette County Schools had been told they needed to cut $621,079, state and district officials said earlier this week, with the potential for that number to increase to $745,286.