Fayette Co. schools must cut at least $620K from budget amid state funding shortfall
Fayette County Public Schools must cut more than $620,000 from its budget this year as a result of a state funding shortfall.
In all, the district must cut $621,079, said state and district officials.
And that number could increase to $745,286 depending on what state data from January shows, said Kentucky Department of Education spokesperson Jennifer Ginn.
The district’s total budget this school year is $817 million.
KDE budget officials told a legislative subcommittee Tuesday there is a $40.6 million shortfall in state funding this school year. The shortfall is in funding from Support Education Excellence in Kentucky, a formula-driven allocation model that provides money for Kentucky’s K-12 public schools.
About $14.7 million of the shortfall is from the parts of SEEK that are required by law to be paid to districts, said Matt Ross, an associate commissioner in the Office of Finance and Operations for the Kentucky Department of Education. An additional shortfall of $26 million is for funding to public school districts that should be paid if funds are available.
The shortfall will appear in the April through June 2025 SEEK payments, the education budget officials said.
Jefferson County Public Schools will have to make a cut of $1.3 million, said Chay Ritter, director of Kentucky’s Division of District Support. For some districts, the cuts will be just a “hiccup,” while for others, the cuts will be “pretty rough,” he said.
Other Central KY school districts affected by shortfall
Several other Central Kentucky school districts could be affected by the shortfall. Dr. Larry Begley, Superintendent of Bourbon County Public Schools, said the school district hasn’t been told definitively if it’ll have to make budget cuts or not. But if cuts are necessary, it’ll cost the school district about $44,000.
Begley said he’s heard there may be contingency money that would cover the shortfall, but if budget cuts are required, he’ll have to look at the schools’ negotiable costs first.
“When you start talking about where can you cut as a school district, you have to look at things that are negotiable,” Begley said. “One is a very unpopular place and that is staffing. That’s a very unpopular place but it’s negotiable. You can look at enrollment needs and adjust staffing.”
Begley said other areas that could get cut from the budget, if necessary, are resources for curriculum, programs and hardware purchases. He said he could receive the KDE’s final answer before the legislative session ends.
“Those are the areas that you can start looking at as places you can cut because there are certainly places in a budget that are non-negotiable,” Begley said.
This story was originally published February 12, 2025 at 12:43 PM.
