School districts are keeping a watchful eye toward Frankfort and the biennium budget, and Trigg County is no different.
During Thursday night’s Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Bill Thorpe gave a short analysis of where House Bill 6 stands at this moment — as the Senate continues its review before delivering a draft.
Among the positives, Thorpe said: 96% funding of school transportation in Year 1, and 100% funding in Year 2, as well as $20,000 per school for resource officer payments — no longer an unfunded mandate from the Kentucky General Assembly.
The negatives, however, still remain — most notably a perceived lack of understanding on how the SEEK formula works.
If this budget passes, Thorpe said the Year 1 increase of SEEK is close to $54 per student for Trigg County Public Schools. In Year 2, though, TCPS would see a loss of $33 per student — based on the believed 5% property valuation and local effort.
SEEK is expected to go from $4,200 up to $4,368 in Year 1 to $4,455 in Year 2, but Thorpe again confirmed that property valuation is expected to twice increase over the next 24 months.
When the SEEK curve doesn’t stay on pace with property values, Thorpe — and most of the state’s superintendents — argue that a larger onus falls on the districts.
Board members Charlene Sheehan and Gayle Rufli agreed.
At present, Thorpe said the Kentucky Association for School Superintendents is convening with the Senate, to perhaps bring more discussion to the table.
The asks: raise the SEEK base and fully fund transportation in both years of the biennium. And that any changes over the next eight weeks of the session must come from a Republican senator, or it will die against the supermajority.
Thorpe also said a recent conversation with officials in Clarksville, Tennessee, indicated that base teacher salaries there will soon move to $48,000 in 2025, and $50,000 in 2026.
It’s a bordering county, ripe for poaching some of the state’s best education leaders.
Other bills that Trigg County officials plan to watch in the coming weeks:
— House Bill 279, which if ratified would codify full-day kindergarten.
— House Bill 275, which would create non-disclosure of teacher misconduct.
— House Bill 366, which would create 40 days for maternity leave.
— House Bill 372, which would create oversight of educational cooperatives.
— House Bill 383, which would prohibit telecommunications and devices during instructional time.
— House Bill 388, which would offer new ways to implement and hire substitute teachers, but would also lower the hiring standards for fill-ins.
— Senate Bill 4, which would assist with the protections around sick days.
— And Senate Bill 7, which would allow KEES dollars be applied to qualifying homeschool students.
The West Kentucky Educational Cooperative will have its February meeting in Frankfort, where conversation with legislators can continue before the budget is fully approved and signed by Governor Andy Beshear.
