Town hall series on SEEK funding program

a discussion opportunity for Ky. school district stakeholders

(Story Courtesy of Kentucky Today)

(KT) – Officials with the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) hosted the first of a series of town halls dedicated to discussing the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) funding program at the Southeast South-Central Educational Cooperative office in London.

The SEEK funding program is a formula-driven allocation of state-provided funds to local school districts. The formula includes base funding as well as funding for transportation costs and special needs students as reported by districts.

Associate Commissioner Matt Ross in KDE’s Office of Finance and Operations said the roadshow provides an opportunity for superintendents, district finance officers, other educators and stakeholders to discuss issues impacting their communities related to school funding.

“We wanted to provide opportunities for really anyone who is interested in a better understanding of SEEK,” Ross said. “We also hope these town halls open up discussion on how the program works now and how it could work better.”

Kay Dixon, executive director of the Southeast South-Central Educational Cooperative, said they were happy to host the event.

“One of the things we loved about it was that they weren’t just coming to us with a PowerPoint presentation,” she stated. “They were coming to us in our area, in our region, to talk specifically about our needs that might be a little different from needs across the state.”

Some of the topics discussed during the meeting in London included challenges with funding for transportation, funding for students with special needs and district losses following the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of funding and students.

KDE is planning several more SEEK roadshow events with education cooperatives across the state over the next few months:

--Dec. 19: Kentucky Educational Development Cooperative (KEDC) in Ashland, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET.

--Jan. 22: Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) in Hazard, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.

--Jan. 24: Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC) in Shelbyville, from 9 a.m. to noon ET.

--Feb. 5: Green River Regional Educational Cooperative (GRREC) in Bowling Green, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CT.

--Feb. 13: Central Kentucky Educational Cooperative (CKEC) in Lexington, from 9 a.m. to noon ET.

--Feb. 19: Northern Kentucky Educational Cooperative (NKEC) in Cold Spring, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET.

--Feb. 26: West Kentucky Educational Cooperative (WKEC) in Eddyville, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. CT.