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Ashland schools warned state funding share could fall to about one-third under governor's proposal
Summary
Superintendent Kyle Paramore told the Ashland City School District board that changes in the state funding formula proposed by the governor could reduce the state's share of school funding for districts statewide and for Ashland specifically, and urged residents and advocates to contact elected officials.
Superintendent Kyle Paramore warned the Ashland City School District Board of Education on Monday that the governor's proposed state budget could sharply reduce the share of public school funding the state provides to districts.
Paramore explained the state's funding formula and said the administration's proposal would phase down a fiscal-year-2021 funding guarantee, leaving the state's share of base funding for districts lower than in recent years. "With the new state budget update that the governor has proposed, they are phasing out that guarantee," Paramore said, adding that by fiscal 2027 the guarantee would be 90% of the FY2021 level.
He told the board the formula starts with a district's base cost per pupil, then adjusts for local capacity using property values and local income, producing a state share per student. Paramore presented the district's recent state-share trajectory, saying it had moved from roughly 49% to 45%, up to 48%, then down to about 43% in the most recent calculation. He said the governor's proposal could push the statewide state share to about 32% by fiscal 2027.
Why this matters: Paramore said those shifts could increase reliance on local revenue to cover the same per-pupil costs and called on local advocates to engage with legislators. "I would encourage anybody that ... is a huge advocate for public education ... to reach out to your elected officials and let them know, to me, it looks catastrophic," he said.
Paramore emphasized the mechanics behind that outcome: the formula's local-capacity measure uses recent property valuations and income data (he said property values used were tax years 2021 through 2023 and income data 2020 through 2022), so districts that appear to have greater local capacity may receive a smaller state share even if tax receipts do not rise at the same rate as assessed values. He also noted an existing 20-mill floor that affects how increases in valuation translate into local revenue and said Ashland remains above that floor; he warned that renewals or future levies may be necessary to preserve current service levels.
Board members discussed local implications. One board member spoke about the need to continue showing the value of Ashland City Schools to local taxpayers and flagged tax abatements as a local policy lever that affects school revenues. Paramore said the district is monitoring the House and Senate deliberations and the five-year forecast has been updated to reflect the preliminary numbers.
No board action was taken on the funding projections during the meeting; Paramore said he would continue to monitor legislation and budget committee activity and keep the board informed.
The superintendent's remarks were part of the regular superintendent report during the Feb. 24 meeting at the district administration offices. The board later approved several routine consent items and entered executive session; those votes are listed separately in the meeting's consent and actions summary.
