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Kentucky School Districts Brace for $8M in State Cuts

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Kentucky School districts are bracing for a mid-year state funding cut totaling nearly $8 million.

The cut is relatively small given the state’s $2.9 billion K-12 budget. 

Kentucky Department of Education Associate Commissioner Hirem Desai says the cuts are due to mostly higher than projected attendance which despite the funding cut, is a good thing. 

“Attendance was actually 599,000, but the total number of kids in the state is 650,000,” said Desai.  “So, as these numbers get tighter and as the school districts do a better job engaging truancy, keeping kids in the classroom, that number goes up.”

The other factor is a slightly over-projected estimate of local revenue coming from property tax.

"Property assessments were projected to be at $300 billion, but they came in at $298.7 billion," said Hirem. "If you do the math on that, it's less than 1 percent. It doesn't sound like a lot, but when you're talking about billions of dollars, it ends up being a $5 million shortfall.

The cuts will be deducted from three monthly payments to districts this spring. Kentucky lawmakers restored some state funding in the 2014-2016 budget. 

Desai says the cut is also partly due to lower than estimated tax revenue. Across the state, the cuts range from more than $650,000 for the largest district in Jefferson County to a mere $1,500 for small districts like Anchorage Independent.  

SEEK funding for school districts in the Jackson Purchase region totaled $245,092 for the 2015 fiscal year, with McCracken County Schools receiving the most. The total for districts in the Pennyrile region came to $380,054, with Christian County Schools receiving the most SEEK money. Independent schools within the two regions received $105,197 in SEEK funding. 

In December, the Kentucky Council for Better Education funded an Adequacy for Excellence study showing that Kentucky’s education system funding levels are below the national average. It showed Kentucky’s per-pupil funding for the 2012-13 school year ranked 28th in the nation and was behind 3 of 7 comparable states. The report showed Kentucky spent $10,333 per enrolled student in 2012 versus that national average of $10,938.  CBE President Tom Shelton said the report aims to formulate a model to present to lawmakers during the next funding cycle. That report did not calculate for SEEK funding. 

Chad Lampe, a Poplar Bluff, Missouri native, was raised on radio. He credits his father, a broadcast engineer, for his technical knowledge, and his mother for the gift of gab. At ten years old he broke all bonds of the FCC and built his own one watt pirate radio station. His childhood afternoons were spent playing music and interviewing classmates for all his friends to hear. At fourteen he began working for the local radio stations, until he graduated high school. He earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology at Murray State, and a Masters Degree in Mass Communication. In November, 2011, Chad was named Station Manager in 2016.
Rob Canning is a native of Murray, KY, a 2015 TV Production grad of Murray State. At MSU, he served as team captain of the Murray State Rowing Club. Rob's goal is to become a screenwriter, film director or producer and looks to the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie for inspiration. He appreciates good music, mainly favoring British rock n' roll, and approves of anything with Jack White's name on it. When not studying, rowing or writing, Rob enjoys spending his free time with a book or guitar.
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