Fayette school budget cut picture worsens after more revenue cuts
The budget news for 2018-19 got worse by several hundred thousand dollars for Fayette County Public Schools after district officials had a webinar with Kentucky Department of Education staff this past week.
District budget director Julane Mullins told school board members at their monthly planning meeting Monday that the total impact of the state budget on Fayette County Public Schools is more than $9.9 million, up from the $9.1 million discussed in late April .
Superintendent Manny Caulk said decisions on budget reductions will be based on data and whether the money the district has invested in various areas is making a difference. The district has a $500 million annual budget.
No specific proposed cuts were identified Monday.
Those reductions will be discussed as the board holds work sessions at Central Office to discuss budget priorities on May 14, 15, and 17 prior to voting on the budget on May 21.
The school board must approve a tentative budget by May 31.
During the webinar, Fayette officials learned for the first time of a $363, 738 reduction in transportation costs for the district. The district will lose another $311,976 in funding for other state grants. .. In terms of the employer match for the County Employees Retirement System, which covers school district classified employees in addition to city and county workers, the district is looking at a $1.5 million increase in those costs next year instead of $1.4 million.
That is on top of the $9.1 million impact that district officials had already identified. That amount included $5.1 million in cuts in SEEK funding, the state’s main funding formula for public K-12 education, $900,000 from Fayette County’s preschool services and other state grants, and $1.8 million in funding from Fayette for professional development, instructional materials and support for new teachers.
The additional revenue that the district is anticipating is outpaced by expected expenditures that are considered essential, Mullins told the board.
Those include increased insurance costs, hiring a new principal and bookkeeper for the elementary school under construction, some required annual salary increases given to employees as they gain experience, costs of more students participating in dual credit courses and leasing space from Bluegrass Community and Technical College to house the 11th and 12th grades of STEAM Academy. The students are moving from the school’s current location on East Sixth Street.
Caulk mentioned that the recommendations made by the District Safety Advisory Council that was convened this year to deal with school threats and violence will also carry some costs. Those recommendations have not been made public yet.
This story was originally published May 8, 2018 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Fayette school budget cut picture worsens after more revenue cuts."