Latest news with #KentuckyDepartmentofEducation
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fayette school board: We support plan to seek more tax dollars from county workers
Despite opposition, a split Fayette County school board Tuesday approved a resolution seeking an increase to the occupational license tax rate to help tackle a $16 million budget deficit. The Fayette County Public Schools board voted 3-2 to ask the Fayette Fiscal Court to increase the occupational license tax rate for schools from 0.5% to 0.75% of wages of individuals and net profits of businesses. District leaders predict the tax hike would cost about $13 per month for the average Fayette County worker. The tax increase will not impact retirees who are not currently working, and Social Security benefits are not subject to the tax. Board members Monica Mundy and Amanda Ferguson voted against the resolution. Penny Christian, Amy Green and board chair Tyler Murphy supported it. 'We have to do right by these kids,' Christian said. Earlier in May, district officials said all department budgets will be reduced by 20% to help address rising costs, but another $16 million must be cut from the general fund budget. Fayette Deputy Superintendent Houston Barber said at Tuesday's meeting the district needs to maintain investments in the classroom, it has insufficient revenue to cover inflationary increases, and must make long-term investments in the district and for student achievement. Most of the district's money, he said, covers personnel salaries and benefits. A balanced tentative budget must be submitted to the Kentucky Department of Education by Friday. Barber said the district has already cut $8.9 million at the district level. There have been $1 million in reductions in positions at Central Office through attrition. The district has cut non-campus departmental budgets by 20%, implemented tighter travel limitations moving forward, and eliminated non-essential overtime pay. Barber gave examples of the changes in expenditures from 2019 to 2025. The costs of salaries have increased from $278 million to $389.2 million and employee benefits from $28.1 million to $41.4 million. Raising new revenue and reducing expenditures are necessary for the proposed tentative $848 million budget for fiscal year 2026, officials said. The current occupational license tax is expected to bring in $57 million to the district for the next fiscal year. Initially, the increase in January 2026 would be $13 million to $16 million with an estimated $27 million to $32 million annually when fully implemented, Barber said. He described an occupational license tax as a payroll tax on wages earned in Fayette County. It is paid by employees who live and work in the county. It is not tied to property ownership. Barber said he was recommending the increase be approved Tuesday in part because a balanced tentative budget is due to the Kentucky Department of Education by Friday. Under state law, the resolution must be processed by the Fayette fiscal court within 10 days of the board passing the resolution. 'This is the way to do it,' Barber said. He said the district would continue to monitor expenses and create a task force of stakeholders to make recommendations for additional efficiencies. The resolution says that present revenue sources will not be sufficient to provide for the building of enough classrooms for thousands of school children, or to furnish adequate school services for all public school children in Fayette County. Any county with 300,000 residents or more can take the 0.75% occupational tax rate, according to the resolution. Jefferson County Public Schools receives revenue from an occupational license tax rate of 0.75 %, district spokesperson Mark Hebert confirmed Tuesday morning. The Fayette school board usually funds schools through property taxes. Unlike the occupational tax, which is overseen by Fayette County Fiscal Court under language from the 1974 merger that formed the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, the school board can set property tax rates higher to get more revenue. However, they can only take 4% more than the year before without it being subject to recall. Thanks to Fayette's continuously growing property assessments, they can often receive a 4% increase without raising the tax rate. Even at the same tax rate, Fayette gets more money. Board members Monica Mundy and Amanda Ferguson said they did not learn about the proposal to raise the occupational license tax until the Memorial Day weekend. Mundy said there should be a public hearing and then a special meeting for a vote at a later date so that the public could express their views about the tax increase. Board chair Tyler Murphy said budget discussions began in January and 'there have been avenues for public engagement.' Ferguson made a motion to table the vote pending the June school board planning meeting. Mundy voted with Ferguson, but the motion failed when three other board members voted against it. Superintendent Demetrus Liggins said he did not know the consequences for not submitting the tentative budget in May to the Kentucky Department of Education. Green, the board's vice chair, said the occupational license tax increase would keep investments in the classroom. She also said she did not think there would be time for a public hearing given that a balanced tentative budget must be sent to the Kentucky Department of Education by the end of May. The Fayette Public Schools tax collection office would administer and collect the occupational license tax rate, the resolution says. Fayette County Judge Executive Mary Diane Hanna told the Herald-Leader the occupational tax for schools is currently imposed by the Fayette County Public School district at a rate of one-half of one percent (0.5%). The Fayette County Board of Education can request the Fayette County Fiscal Court to levy a special occupational license tax which can increase by one-quarter of one percent (0.25%), Hanna said. Hanna said Sunday that the resolution could be on the docket for a special meeting of the fiscal court. It may be too late to get it on the docket for a June 5 meeting. She said Tuesday night in an email that 'I have referred this entire matter to legal counsel who will advise me/us on this issue.' At an Urban County Council work session Tuesday before the school board vote, Lexington council member Whitney Elliot Baxter asked Lexington Fayette Urban County Government Interim Commissioner of Law David Barberie about the school district's effort to increase the occupational license tax. 'We don't represent the fiscal court, but our reading of the statute would be that their role is merely to rubber stamp it. They don't really have the meaningful opportunity to push back on this,' Barberie said. Several people in the community spoke for and against the tax increase in front of a packed school board meeting room. Whit Whitaker, President of the Lexington-Fayette NAACP, was among those who spoke in favor of the resolution. LFUCG Council member Emma Curtis said she came to city council to speak in favor of collective bargaining, but she also wanted to express her concern with the process around the payroll tax. 'I'm here to encourage good government,' she said. 'I don't think the way the public was made aware of this tax was fully transparent.' 'City Council as a body has worked to increase transparency and public engagement. It's inconceivable that an elected body would go about this process in a way that intentionally cuts the public out of it.' Michael Hawse is chair of Young Democrats and sits on the board of Fayette Democratic Party who said he came to speak to the resolution they passed in support of collective bargaining. But speaking as an individual, he said. 'These issues can be difficult, but one thing the board should understand is that the public needs to have all the information.' Fayette County Public Schools remains in solid financial standing, Barber has said. Aside from the occupational license tax for schools, Susan Straub, spokesperson for Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, said Tuesday that the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government assesses an occupational license fee of 2.25 %. The fee applies to an individual's compensation and a businesses net profit. The city started collecting that payroll tax in 1980 and it has stayed at 2.25 % since 1992. It currently generates $276 million, which makes up 55.2 percent of the city's general fund budget, Straub said. Staff writer Kendall Staton contributed to this article.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Laurel County students won't return to school for remainder of the year
LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Laurel County Public Schools has ended the school year after an EF3 tornado devastated two London neighborhoods. The district announced on Tuesday, May 20, that administrators have decided that students will not return to classrooms and that Friday, May 16, was students' last day. Read more of the latest Kentucky news 'Since the severe weather event that occurred over the weekend, Laurel County Public Schools District Administrators have been in regular contact with the Kentucky Department of Education discussing allowances under current legislation that best meet the needs of our students, staff, and community,' the district wrote. 'This decision to end the school year will allow us to focus on our students and employees who have been adversely impacted, as we continue to coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies in the restoration of services to our community.' Graduation is still scheduled for Saturday, May 31. Trump lashes out on Kentucky Rep. Massie, calls him a 'grandstander' Kentucky braces for more severe weather: Is there a tornado warning near me? Laurel County students won't return to school for remainder of the year 'Our Family Resource and Youth Service Centers will continue reaching out and coordinating services for affected families,' the district wrote. 'Additional information will be shared on individual school websites and Facebook pages regarding specific school announcements and graduation.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Beshear vetoes legislature's last-minute aid to put police in private schools, draws GOP rebuke
Senate GOP Floor Leader Max Wise, right, is criticizing Gov. Andy Beshear for vetoing a provision that would have helped private schools hire police. The proposal surfaced in the Senate on March 14, the last day before the veto break. Conferring with Wise on the Senate floor March 14 are Senate President Robert Stivers, left, and Sen. Chris McDaniel. (LRC Public Information) Months after Kentucky voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed public funds to support nonpublic schools, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear applied the same logic in a line-item veto. Beshear's veto spurred Senate Republicans to issue a news release Friday and again Monday headlined 'Senator Max Wise rips governor's veto of school safety provision,' asserting that the proposed public funding would have gone to law enforcement agencies not the private schools that could have used it to employ police as school resource officers. The provision, which surfaced on the 28th day of the 30-day session and received little attention, directed the Kentucky Department of Education to provide up to $20,000 to help nonpublic schools employ a law enforcement officer on their campuses. The Senate added the provision to House Bill 622 which modified state contract and invoicing procedures. Public schools also were eligible for the assistance in hiring security personnel known as school resource officers. The Senate authorized spending $5 million a year over the current biennium. When the legislature reconvened after the 10-day veto period, the House rejected the Senate version and the legislation went to a free conference committee, which also recommended the aid to put officers in private as well as public schools. Both chambers approved the conference committee's proposal on March 28. That was the day the legislature adjourned meaning the Republican-controlled legislature had no chance to override a Beshear veto. Beshear issued a line-item veto last week, striking the aid to private schools as well as some of the original bill's contracting requirements. In response, Wise, the Senate Republican floor leader, accused Beshear of politicizing school safety. Kentuckians say 'no' to public funding for private, charter schools 'Governor Beshear's line-item veto sends an unmistakable and deeply disturbing message to families across the commonwealth: If your child attends a private school, their safety matters less,' Wise said. 'As the primary sponsor of the 2019 School Safety and Resiliency Act, I've spent years working so that every Kentucky student, teacher, and staff member—regardless of ZIP code, income level, or school type—is protected from the threats facing our world today. The Governor's decision doesn't just fly in the face of a bipartisan mission — it politicizes it.' Wise, of Campbellsville, sponsored a 2019 school safety law in the aftermath of a shooting at Marshall County High School. Beshear signed that law. A 2022 update to the law, also signed by Beshear, requires a school resource officer (SRO), a type of sworn law enforcement officer, on each campus in Kentucky, although the legislature has never fully funded that mandate. Last year Wise successfully sponsored legislation allowing volunteer 'guardians' to fill vacant law enforcement positions at schools. In his recent veto message, Beshear pushed back on using public funds in nonpublic schools and cited a proposed constitutional amendment that voters rejected last fall that would have allowed the General Assembly to fund nonpublic schools, such as private or charter schools. 'All Kentucky children deserve to be safe in their schools, but the Kentucky Constitution requires public funds be used for only public schools,' Beshear wrote. He added the Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled against supporting nonpublic schools with public funds. In 2022, the state's high court struck down a 2021 Kentucky law creating a generous tax credit to help families pay for tuition at private schools. The next year Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd struck down a charter school law passed in 2022. Wise accused Beshear of 'appeasing special interests and institutions' and pointed out that parents who send their children to private schools pay taxes to support public schools and other local services such as law enforcement. Wise also argued that Beshear 'has chosen to punish Kentucky families for making a decision that was right for them,' as parents of nonpublic school students pay taxes for local services. The senator vowed that the Republican-controlled state legislature 'will not be silent in the face of this reckless decision' and that student safety 'is not negotiable.' The final version of HB 622 that passed on the legislature's last day also included $30 million to expand a sewage treatment plant in Elizabethtown; $20 million to help communities experiencing economic growth presumably from the electric-vehicle battery plant being built in Glendale, and $10 million for infrastructure in Grayson County. Beshear allowed those provisions to become law. The legislature overrode Beshear's vetoes of bills that were passed in time for the Republican majority to overturn them. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Woodford County Schools staff say they struck gold after being awarded a grant more than $1M
VERSAILLES, Ky. (FOX 56) — Faculty and staff at the Woodford County Schools are quite literally feeling like a million bucks with a grant that'll provide more resources for student growth. The Woodford County Schools are one of 40 school districts across Kentucky to be awarded the Kentucky Comprehensive Literacy Grant. The grant totals $1,560,000, which will be spread over the course of five years. The district's coordinator of curriculum, instruction, and assessment, Scott Hundley, played a role in writing the grant. Previously fired federal employees return to work at Camp Nelson: 'Cautiously optimistic' 'Suspicious package' closes Lexington road during rush hour Judge recommends no new trial for Patrick Baker after federal conviction, pardon by former governor 'There was a lot of people that had a lot of parts in this. We had a teacher group get together to help us create and do research on some of the programs and resources that we might want to use,' Hundley said. The grant will be used to fund additional resources and professional development to support literacy from birth all the way to 12th grade. The next step is looking into what ways the district can use the funding to support student growth even more, and it's something state leaders have their eye on. 'Literacy is a big push across the state. I know that is a big thing the Kentucky Department of Education has been tasked with, making some of these foundational resources available for us so we can really give it the service we need in our buildings,' Hundley said. The grant will help teachers and instructors start these literacy habits young. District leaders like superintendent Danny Adkins said he's expecting the results to have a trickle effect through the whole district. Previously fired federal employees return to work at Camp Nelson: 'Cautiously optimistic' 'Suspicious package' closes Lexington road during rush hour Judge recommends no new trial for Patrick Baker after federal conviction, pardon by former governor 'The focus will be at the elementary level; that's typically where we really focus with literacy. We'll also get to see some of our preschool kids, so it'll also be distributed to some of our earliest learners as well,' Adkins said. It's something students of all ages will get to take advantage of, and Adkins said he's buzzing with excitement to see these lessons follow them through life. 'As students become more confident in their abilities, they'll just be more successful in the classroom. That makes them better neighbors, better employees, better community members, and that's our goal. We want to put out a great product to students, a great individual, and a great community member,' Adkins said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Gatton selected as member of Numeracy Counts Administrator Academy Design Team
Kim Gatton, the principal at Calhoun Elementary School in McLean County, has been selected to be a member of the Numeracy Counts Administrator Academy Design Team, a team of educators across Kentucky who will be designing professional development curriculum focusing on improving math literacy in early elementary school classes. Gatton was one of six principals across the state to be selected for the team. 'I'm excited for the opportunity to be selected for the team,' Gatton said. 'As a team member, I will play a first-hand role in designing some of the professional development curriculum for teachers across the state which puts me in a great position to utilize these trainings for my own staff members during the first limited cohort of teachers and educators.' Gatton said that, because she's a member of the design team, elementary school teachers and principals across McLean County will be eligible to attend the training sessions that will take place this summer. Gatton, a former high school chemistry teacher, said that she understands how valuable math literacy is for students. 'The state has already made a big push for reading literacy in younger elementary school students, so now it's time to also focus on math literacy,' she said. The push for improved math literacy in grades kindergarten through third is because of Kentucky House Bill 162, which passed in 2024. The bill's goal is that 'all students have the skills necessary to demonstrate procedural skill and fluency, building from conceptual understanding to application, in order to solve real-world problems.' The focus on numeracy, the ability and confidence to understand, reason with and apply mathematical concepts in real-world situations, according to the Kentucky Department of Education, 'is not just about performing calculations, but also about understanding the context and meaning of those numbers.' As a member of the design team, Gatton will be working with educational leaders from the University of Louisville, Northern Kentucky University, the University of Kentucky, Western Kentucky University, the Kentucky Center for Mathematics and regional educational cooperatives. The initial cohort of educators participating in the new math literacy focused curriculum trainers are limited to 125 participants at each of eight training sites. The Kentucky Department of Education states that 'understanding the nature of high-quality mathematics instruction, and what teachers and students should be doing in the classroom is essential for an instructional leader of a school.' That's why Gatton said she is honored to be a part of the design team and to extend her knowledge to her other team members. 'As a former chemistry teacher, I understand how important math literacy is for students as they pursue more education or enter into a career,' Gatton said. 'So, by focusing on math literary while the students are still in early elementary school, we will be able to show students why math is important for practical uses and real-world applications.' The design team met for the first time in Lexington in February and will continue to meet until the training sessions begin this summer. Teachers will use the information and curriculum training received in these classes beginning during the 2025-2026 school year.
