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KDE lays out 2026–28 budget requests and warns key district tech services could stop without funding
Summary
KDE officials presented the department’s 2026–2028 biennial budget request to the Kentucky Board of Education, detailing baseline and add-on requests across technology, teaching and learning, and educator supports; KDE warned some Office of Education Technology services could cease without additional funds and scheduled further budget review in March.
FRANKFORT — Kentucky Department of Education officials on Feb. 6 presented the department’s 2026–2028 biennial budget request to the Kentucky Board of Education, outlining baseline funding and a set of additional requests for technology, instructional supports and educator initiatives.
Associate Commissioner Matt Ross and Division Director Karen Wirth opened the budget review, walking board members through KDE’s budget process and the department’s six‑year capital plan. Associate Commissioner David Couch told the board that the KDE Office of Education Technology (OET) included requests intended to sustain district-facing services and warned that without added funding “many services provided by OET to school districts may cease to exist or costs would be shifted” to other KDE offices or to districts. Couch cited specific services at risk, including Infinite Campus accumulation, school report cards, IT certifications and eTranscripts.
KDE Chief Academic Officer Micki Ray Marinelli described additional requests from the Office of Teaching and Learning, including funding for professional development, textbooks and instructional resources, the Read to Succeed program and Numeracy Counts. Associate Commissioner Meredith Brewer outlined proposals from the Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness, which included support for Educators Rising KY, stipends for teachers who mentor Educators Rising participants, GoTeachKY outreach, mentoring programs for educators new to the profession, Praxis assessment reimbursement and stipend increases for teachers supervising student teachers.
Wirth told board members the next steps will include an overview of baseline calculations and continued conversations about offices’ additional requests at the March KBE regular meeting. No formal vote on the budget request occurred at the Feb. 6 meeting.
The board will revisit these requests in March as KDE refines baseline figures and details for potential inclusion in the department’s formal biennial submission to the governor and legislature.
