Education officials are celebrating after Governor Beshear announced the Kentucky Department of Education will receive an additional $14.7 million dollars in state funding. This boost will make up for the shortfall in the Supporting Education Excellence in Kentucky, or SEEK, funding program for the 2024-2025 school year.
Chay Ritter, Division Director of the KDE Office of Finance and Operations, said certain factors led to the initial shortfall.
“Illness is a very tricky one, almost impossible to predict. You know, the flu is a little late this year, and if you go back, I think, to one of the years where we had a shortfall the big reason behind it was a bad flu outbreak in the fall, and next year everyone is healthy. So, it created a growth bubble, if you will, and that caught up with us,” said Ritter.
Other factors, including population shifts, various economic factors, and the COVID-19 pandemic can affect the precision of the formula.
Ritter added improvements have been made to the funding formula over the years.
“In 2015 or so, we started working with the state Budget Office to help develop better numbers for our projections. We had had a couple years where we, you know, we're a little uncomfortable with our own numbers and we thought by working together a little more closely we would be a better process and it in fact was a better process,” said Ritter.
KDE officials calculate funding using a formula with a base amount per pupil, plus additional funding for transportation, special education, free or reduced-cost lunch programs, and English language learners. More information regarding the SEEK program is available online at education.ky.gov.