YOU ARE HERE: Central Kentucky Home→Collections

Budget cuts speculation at this point

December 07, 2009|By Bob Flynn

Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday Friday called any talk about cuts in state education funding "just speculation," until a budget decision is made by state legislators.

In an e-mail sent to state superintendents last Monday, Holliday said the Kentucky Department of Education would need to trim $20 million from its budget the remainder of this school year to conform to a proposed 6 percent cut in state funding.

But after several meetings with state budget officials Friday, Holliday said no final decisions on the cuts would be made until early January at the earliest.

In the meantime, school officials will be looking at possible scenarios for when the cuts come, said Clark County Superintendent Elaine Farris.

"It's my feeling that we won't know anything definite until February," Farris said. "So, all you can do at this point is come up with a plan A and a plan B until you see what the cuts will be."

The $20 million cuts KDE is looking at are in response to Gov. Steve Beshear's recent announcement that the state would need to reduce its expenditures by 6 percent this year to offset revenue shortfalls.

Holliday had previously said the cuts would involve reductions in programs such as preschool, technical education, community education and the gifted and talented programs, but would not affect the schools basic funding formula or SEEK funds.

Contact Bob Flynn at bflynn@winchestersum.com.

|

|

|