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Bullitt County superintendent warns of $40 million statewide SEEK shortfall; district urges legislators to use rainy day fund
Summary
The superintendent told the board that the Kentucky Department of Education projects roughly $40 million in statewide SEEK funding shortfall this fiscal year; the district is monitoring impacts and asking the legislature to consider the state's rainy day fund to cover the gap.
The superintendent (name not specified) told the Bullitt County Board of Education that the Kentucky Department of Education projects a statewide SEEK funding shortfall of about $40,000,000 for the current fiscal year and said the district is monitoring the situation and urging legislators to consider using the state’s rainy day fund to cover the shortfall.
The issue matters because a statewide SEEK shortfall would reduce state revenue to districts; if the General Assembly does not act to restore the funds, local districts may need to use contingency funds or make late‑year budget cuts.
The superintendent said one option would be for the legislature to reopen the budget and reallocate money to the SEEK formula, though that is uncommon in non‑budget years. He noted that attendance increases as students returned after COVID have raised funding needs beyond earlier projections and that Bullitt County is seeing improved attendance trends as well. The superintendent asked the community to contact legislators to urge use of the rainy day fund for the shortfall; he said over the last two fiscal years the General Assembly swept more than $200,000,000 in excess SEEK funds back to the general fund rather than distributing them to districts.
If the General Assembly does not act, the superintendent said the district will examine its contingency funds and “where we may need to cut from the budget for this fiscal year,” noting the difficulty of making cuts more than halfway through a budget period. He reminded the board that during the COVID period the district implemented about a 9% cut to district budgets (without cutting positions) to address an earlier shortfall.
The superintendent said he has been communicating with legislators and that the district will continue to advocate during the legislative session. He encouraged community members to contact legislators on the district’s behalf.
Separately, the board was reminded that KDE is hosting regional town halls on assessment and accountability; district staff will present at the Shelbyville event and the district’s midyear assessment reports will be discussed at the February work session.
