The Kentucky Board of Education is asking the General Assembly to appropriate money for an existing emergency loan fund for certain districts facing serious financial challenges.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that those districts are facing the challenges due to a change in the way the unmined coal tax is calculated and declining revenue collections.
Under state law, districts can participate in an emergency loan fund, yet no funds have been appropriated.
The board wants to request that the General Assembly appropriate money for the fund and change the law to further specify how districts could participate.
Kentucky Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt has said local school districts that rely upon unmined coal tax revenue receipts have learned that their revenue from this tax would be reduced due to lower property assessments.
