While school districts get equitable funding from the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) formula, local school districts still face their own hurdles in meeting the funding needs of their student population.

Officials from the Kentucky Department of Education testified before the Interim Joint Committee of Education’s Subcommittee on School Finance on how the SEEK formula distributes money based on per pupil daily attendance for each district.

The formula was first implemented in 1990 to even out funding across the state. Kay Kennedy, director of KDE division of district support, told lawmakers the per pupil amount for the 2014-2015 school year is $3,911 and will increase to $3,981 in the 2015-2016 school year.

The per pupil amount, Kennedy said, helps identify additional funding for add-on components. Those add-on components give additional funds for students in various groups.

Low-income students who receive free lunch get an additional $586.65 in funding. The exceptional child component has three sections including low incident students — students severely impacted by physical, emotional or behavioral incidents — that receives $9,190.85 per pupil funding. Moderate students receive $4,575.87 and high incidence students who have conditions like speech impairment receive $939.64 per pupil funding.

Other add-on components include home and hospital categorized students who receive instruction off of school property because of medical issues or disabilities receives funding of $3,811 per year and students with limited English proficiency receive $375.46 in funding.

Rep. Derrick Graham D-Franklin said the most challenging part for the Frankfort Independent School District, which spent $12,180 per student in 2013-2014, is taxable property.

“The funding problem for the district is having the state within the district,” Graham said. “You’ve got government property here that can’t be taxed and it kind of boxes them in (the district).  We have one of the best funding formulas in the country but the state property issue is what we have to deal with.”

Rich Crowe, superintendent of Frankfort Independent Schools, said the funding challenge comes down to money and time.

With KDE’s newest evaluation program the Professional Growth and Effectiveness System (PGES), Crowe said the district must pay for school principals to do 30 hours of video training, then principals do calibration exercises after the training where they assess teachers in a classroom. The assessments address the teacher’s effectiveness in instruction and communication.

The teachers must also do peer evaluations of each class and there is also an evaluation system for the superintendent.

“It’s a laborious process and what you will get in the end is something good,” Crowe said. “One of our big issues is creating more taxable property and the PGES is a good thing. But schools and districts are required to implement these programs at the same time when funds in the commonwealth are sorely lacking. They are asked to do more assessment and accountability and it is deficient in terms of funds and time.”

Franklin County Public School District spent $9,136 per pupil in the district in 2013-2014. Ed Breckel, finance director for FCPS, said the district has improved from where it was.

“We are doing better than we were five years ago and some of it has to do with the formula,” Breckel said. “The reason we have improved over the last few years is taking the four percent tax rate three out of the last four years. But if you look at per pupil rate compared to other school districts it still puts us, I would bet, below the middle (of per pupil spending).”

For more information about SEEK funding for any district visit KDE’s webpage at http://www.education.ky.gov/ and search their school report card by district.