This analysis is based on the initial version of House Bill 500. See here for an updated analysis on the how the House budget would affect SEEK payments.
As introduced, the House budget would cut school transportation funding and freeze the current guaranteed base funding level used to determine payments to school districts under the SEEK formula. This would result in a more than $100 million reduction in state payments to local schools by 2028, putting even more pressure on local districts that are already struggling with rising prices and decades of disinvestment. If the General Assembly ultimately passes an education budget anywhere close to what the House proposed, it would accelerate a 20-year trend of eroding state funding for public education.
Cuts come from failing to follow the law and freezing base guarantee
SEEK is the core funding formula for schools that provides a guaranteed minimum amount of base funding per student, with funding responsibility divided between the state and school districts. The formula accounts for district property wealth with the state providing a larger portion of funds to poorer districts in recognition of their relative lack of local wealth to tax. The formula also includes add-on amounts for transportation costs and the number of students with various special needs.
While the SEEK formula decides how much is allocated between school districts, the amount of money available to distribute through the formula is based entirely on choices made by the General Assembly — including whether to set the SEEK base guarantee at a level that meets the cost of providing a high-quality education and whether to follow the legislature’s own laws on funding for the transportation of students.
The House’s initial budget, HB 500, suspends a law that requires the state to fund 100% of the cost of school transportation (a law that has been suspended in every budget since 2004). The House proposal funds only 74% of these costs, an amount that is $40 million a year less than in the current budget (and $129 million less than what the law would require).
State funding is reduced further in this proposal because the shared responsibility formula for SEEK funding is based on assessed property values, with local funding responsibility increasing as property values increase. When state-wide property values grow as expected over the next two years but the SEEK base level is held constant, as in the current House proposal, the total amount the state contributes is reduced. This shift in responsibility cuts the state payments to support schools by over $60 million annually in the House proposal.
School districts will not be able to make up for this loss of revenue. State limitations placed on local property taxes discourage fast-growing districts from setting rates that would fully tax the value of spiking property values. In other, primarily rural districts, property values are low and are not growing. These districts depend more heavily on state funding, making a freeze in the base guarantee highly consequential. These same districts also tend to struggle with a loss of population, which reduces SEEK funding because it is made on a per-pupil basis. A district that is losing population can still face fixed overhead costs that are nearly the same.
What’s more, equitable and adequate funding for public education is ultimately a state responsibility under Kentucky’s constitution. But this budget would continue a long-term trend of state disinvestment: the SEEK guaranteed base was $3,822 per student in 2008, which is $6,197 in 2028 dollars. The House budget’s $4,586 SEEK guaranteed base is 26% less. And these proposed cuts come at the same time the funding cliff from the expiration of COVID-19 dollars is causing local district budget shortfalls across the state.
Districts, and therefore kids, receive less
See the table below for KyPolicy’s estimated changes in state SEEK payments to districts in the House budget using projections of SEEK parameters developed by the Department of Education for the budgeting process. Non-SEEK payments to school districts are also an important part of school budgets but are not included here. For example, Family Resource and Youth Service Centers are cut in the House budget, and preschool and extended school services like afterschool programs are still funded at 2019 levels in 2028.
Cuts to SEEK Payments in the House Budget
| School district | Difference in state SEEK payments, 2026 to 2028 | Inflation-adjusted | Inflation-adjusted cut as a percent of 2028 state SEEK plus local effort | Per pupil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adair County | -$257,542 | -$974,312 | -5% | -6% |
| Allen County | -$587,750 | -$1,425,973 | -6% | -6% |
| Anchorage Independent | -$4,632 | -$40,810 | -1% | -1% |
| Anderson County | -$874,251 | -$1,577,344 | -7% | -6% |
| Ashland Independent | -$542,542 | -$1,355,460 | -7% | -3% |
| Augusta Independent | $173,065 | $73,248 | 3% | -7% |
| Ballard County | -$251,113 | -$451,622 | -7% | -5% |
| Barbourville Independent | -$3,907 | -$218,232 | -5% | -5% |
| Bardstown Independent | $115,643 | -$446,131 | -2% | -5% |
| Barren County | -$1,548,712 | -$2,778,194 | -8% | -7% |
| Bath County | -$202,670 | -$768,202 | -6% | -6% |
| Beechwood Independent | $48,726 | -$215,343 | -2% | -5% |
| Bell County | -$435,944 | -$1,228,057 | -7% | -5% |
| Bellevue Independent | -$71,713 | -$126,748 | -3% | -1% |
| Berea Independent | -$276,939 | -$573,857 | -8% | -3% |
| Boone County | -$2,576,093 | -$5,456,536 | -4% | -4% |
| Bourbon County | -$1,349,653 | -$1,770,005 | -11% | -9% |
| Bowling Green Independent | $862,356 | -$391,176 | -1% | -6% |
| Boyd County | -$554,258 | -$1,203,404 | -6% | -5% |
| Boyle County | -$420,882 | -$1,105,089 | -5% | -6% |
| Bracken County | -$44,085 | -$370,878 | -4% | -4% |
| Breathitt County | -$413,153 | -$982,877 | -8% | -5% |
| Breckinridge County | -$574,315 | -$1,214,166 | -6% | -6% |
| Bullitt County | -$5,521,342 | -$7,456,048 | -8% | -9% |
| Burgin Independent | $33,157 | -$60,508 | -2% | -4% |
| Butler County | -$490,594 | -$1,162,223 | -7% | -7% |
| Caldwell County | -$498,011 | -$977,192 | -8% | -7% |
| Calloway County | -$678,994 | -$1,203,090 | -6% | -6% |
| Campbell County | -$2,417,749 | -$3,093,897 | -8% | -8% |
| Campbellsville Independent | $423,338 | $55,551 | 1% | -5% |
| Carlisle County | -$83,514 | -$272,179 | -5% | -5% |
| Carroll County | $48,603 | -$433,770 | -3% | -3% |
| Carter County | -$810,368 | -$1,982,961 | -7% | -6% |
| Casey County | -$344,664 | -$1,001,281 | -6% | -6% |
| Caverna Independent | -$194,731 | -$315,882 | -7% | -6% |
| Christian County | -$2,837,304 | -$4,619,848 | -8% | -7% |
| Clark County | -$352,850 | -$1,460,244 | -4% | -5% |
| Clay County | -$748,069 | -$1,748,402 | -8% | -5% |
| Clinton County | -$582,907 | -$994,554 | -10% | -5% |
| Corbin Independent | $216,983 | -$644,657 | -3% | -5% |
| Covington Independent | $23,728 | -$749,792 | -3% | -4% |
| Crittenden County | -$44,430 | -$408,312 | -4% | -5% |
| Cumberland County | -$253,116 | -$511,501 | -7% | -6% |
| Danville Independent | -$174,183 | -$562,215 | -4% | -5% |
| Daviess County | -$2,097,945 | -$4,338,555 | -6% | -5% |
| Dawson Springs Independent | $288,288 | $95,132 | 2% | -8% |
| Dayton Independent | -$266,728 | -$481,469 | -9% | -7% |
| East Bernstadt Independent | -$31,507 | -$174,921 | -6% | -5% |
| Edmonson County | -$874,673 | -$1,310,484 | -10% | -9% |
| Elizabethtown Independent | -$111,736 | -$757,374 | -5% | -5% |
| Elliott County | -$365,493 | -$658,345 | -10% | -5% |
| Eminence Independent | $174,471 | -$87,468 | -1% | -5% |
| Erlanger-Elsmere Indep. | -$119,578 | -$627,944 | -4% | -6% |
| Estill County | -$219,521 | -$858,971 | -6% | -5% |
| Fairview Independent | -$57,466 | -$219,706 | -6% | -3% |
| Fayette County | -$6,863,499 | -$12,472,449 | -4% | -4% |
| Fleming County | -$474,315 | -$1,067,836 | -7% | -6% |
| Floyd County | -$638,526 | -$2,160,021 | -6% | -4% |
| Fort Thomas Independent | -$50,742 | -$602,970 | -3% | -4% |
| Frankfort Independent | -$24,578 | -$251,419 | -4% | -4% |
| Franklin County | -$388,081 | -$1,625,513 | -3% | -4% |
| Fulton County | -$111,809 | -$271,595 | -6% | -5% |
| Fulton Independent | -$116,500 | -$194,992 | -10% | -5% |
| Gallatin County | -$316,896 | -$629,899 | -7% | -5% |
| Garrard County | -$451,368 | -$1,056,706 | -6% | -6% |
| Glasgow Independent | -$222,232 | -$859,643 | -5% | -6% |
| Grant County | -$1,522,180 | -$2,357,274 | -10% | -7% |
| Graves County | -$1,286,469 | -$2,156,218 | -8% | -8% |
| Grayson County | -$908,621 | -$1,940,331 | -7% | -6% |
| Green County | -$186,326 | -$693,844 | -5% | -7% |
| Greenup County | -$838,964 | -$1,502,158 | -8% | -6% |
| Hancock County | -$340,558 | -$644,944 | -7% | -4% |
| Hardin County | -$5,347,887 | -$8,605,365 | -8% | -9% |
| Harlan County | -$903,300 | -$2,010,386 | -8% | -4% |
| Harlan Independent | -$20,694 | -$286,064 | -5% | -5% |
| Harrison County | -$329,100 | -$1,106,218 | -5% | -7% |
| Hart County | -$797,878 | -$1,424,226 | -8% | -8% |
| Hazard Independent | $11,445 | -$284,955 | -4% | -4% |
| Henderson County | -$1,228,663 | -$2,792,244 | -6% | -5% |
| Henry County | -$818,495 | -$1,264,063 | -9% | -8% |
| Hickman County | -$146,786 | -$337,761 | -6% | -7% |
| Hopkins County | -$685,352 | -$2,194,072 | -5% | -2% |
| Jackson County | -$208,849 | -$884,866 | -6% | -5% |
| Jackson Independent | -$27,495 | -$141,605 | -6% | -6% |
| Jefferson County | -$25,050,919 | -$37,065,497 | -5% | -6% |
| Jenkins Independent | -$87,969 | -$250,328 | -7% | -7% |
| Jessamine County | -$2,157,430 | -$3,773,040 | -6% | -6% |
| Johnson County | -$232,340 | -$1,287,825 | -5% | -5% |
| Kenton County | -$6,818,717 | -$9,018,869 | -9% | -9% |
| Knott County | -$302,090 | -$938,016 | -6% | -5% |
| Knox County | -$1,140,568 | -$2,293,410 | -9% | -5% |
| LaRue County | -$255,641 | -$936,057 | -5% | -6% |
| Laurel County | -$2,127,819 | -$4,331,211 | -7% | -6% |
| Lawrence County | -$175,234 | -$849,351 | -5% | -5% |
| Lee County | -$224,528 | -$472,646 | -8% | -5% |
| Leslie County | -$517,245 | -$1,026,955 | -9% | -3% |
| Letcher County | -$991,230 | -$1,769,930 | -10% | -9% |
| Lewis County | -$462,917 | -$1,070,275 | -8% | -4% |
| Lincoln County | -$1,314,644 | -$2,163,683 | -9% | -7% |
| Livingston County | -$181,300 | -$308,937 | -4% | -3% |
| Logan County | -$911,662 | -$1,765,062 | -7% | -7% |
| Ludlow Independent | -$58,698 | -$266,326 | -5% | -4% |
| Lyon County | -$10,307 | -$111,474 | -2% | -1% |
| Madison County | -$6,708,738 | -$9,173,432 | -11% | -11% |
| Magoffin County | -$490,406 | -$1,122,984 | -8% | -5% |
| Marion County | -$1,402,656 | -$2,048,411 | -9% | -9% |
| Marshall County | -$1,015,957 | -$1,800,224 | -6% | -5% |
| Martin County | -$364,924 | -$888,802 | -8% | -5% |
| Mason County | $176,013 | -$456,929 | -2% | -4% |
| Mayfield Independent | $561,892 | -$59,118 | 0% | -7% |
| McCracken County | -$2,445,484 | -$3,669,489 | -8% | -7% |
| McCreary County | -$382,541 | -$1,277,781 | -6% | -4% |
| McLean County | -$389,676 | -$727,327 | -8% | -5% |
| Meade County | -$1,278,545 | -$2,528,661 | -7% | -7% |
| Menifee County | -$89,335 | -$408,417 | -6% | -6% |
| Mercer County | -$639,788 | -$1,278,106 | -6% | -6% |
| Metcalfe County | -$381,550 | -$761,447 | -8% | -5% |
| Middlesboro Independent | -$216,776 | -$535,995 | -7% | -5% |
| Monroe County | -$415,885 | -$924,273 | -7% | -7% |
| Montgomery County | -$166,897 | -$1,341,975 | -4% | -5% |
| Morgan County | -$464,477 | -$1,052,191 | -8% | -4% |
| Muhlenberg County | -$1,047,008 | -$2,169,543 | -7% | -5% |
| Murray Independent | -$12,725 | -$501,848 | -4% | -6% |
| Nelson County | -$16,964 | -$546,203 | -2% | -2% |
| Newport Independent | -$229,859 | -$416,971 | -4% | -2% |
| Nicholas County | -$176,497 | -$471,208 | -6% | -7% |
| Ohio County | -$1,562,403 | -$2,612,183 | -10% | -6% |
| Oldham County | -$2,164,711 | -$4,391,908 | -5% | -5% |
| Owen County | -$405,303 | -$821,694 | -7% | -5% |
| Owensboro Independent | -$618,731 | -$1,941,463 | -6% | -5% |
| Owsley County | -$161,789 | -$383,836 | -8% | -5% |
| Paducah Independent | -$139,544 | -$837,569 | -4% | -4% |
| Paintsville Independent | -$45,256 | -$227,536 | -5% | -5% |
| Paris Independent | $214,722 | $775 | 0% | -7% |
| Pendleton County | -$890,230 | -$1,473,351 | -10% | -7% |
| Perry County | -$534,919 | -$1,604,514 | -6% | -4% |
| Pike County | -$1,613,594 | -$3,687,217 | -8% | -4% |
| Pikeville Independent | $16,137 | -$207,950 | -3% | -3% |
| Pineville Independent | -$14,237 | -$187,462 | -5% | -5% |
| Powell County | -$662,868 | -$1,223,159 | -9% | -6% |
| Pulaski County | -$4,391,607 | -$5,975,919 | -12% | -8% |
| Raceland Independent | $210,329 | -$108,431 | -1% | -2% |
| Robertson County | -$196,625 | -$339,778 | -11% | -5% |
| Rockcastle County | -$472,237 | -$1,361,360 | -7% | -6% |
| Rowan County | -$174,629 | -$967,454 | -4% | -6% |
| Russell County | -$395,875 | -$1,213,215 | -5% | -6% |
| Russell Independent | -$522,319 | -$1,031,452 | -8% | -4% |
| Russellville Independent | -$210,270 | -$493,299 | -7% | -6% |
| Science Hill Independent | -$151,599 | -$295,301 | -9% | -5% |
| Scott County | -$2,731,215 | -$4,611,216 | -6% | -7% |
| Shelby County | -$2,597,506 | -$3,754,566 | -7% | -8% |
| Simpson County | -$2,028,684 | -$2,613,234 | -12% | -12% |
| Somerset Independent | $241,358 | -$147,202 | -1% | -5% |
| Southgate Independent | -$4,534 | -$34,553 | -3% | -3% |
| Spencer County | -$686,308 | -$1,422,019 | -6% | -7% |
| Taylor County | -$585,885 | -$1,274,269 | -7% | -7% |
| Todd County | -$577,155 | -$1,043,707 | -8% | -7% |
| Trigg County | -$512,613 | -$909,522 | -7% | -6% |
| Trimble County | -$183,311 | -$436,976 | -5% | -4% |
| Union County | -$75,825 | -$601,379 | -4% | -4% |
| Walton Verona Independent | -$492,813 | -$893,762 | -7% | -8% |
| Warren County | -$1,481,117 | -$5,220,692 | -4% | -6% |
| Washington County | -$934,576 | -$1,359,068 | -11% | -10% |
| Wayne County | -$408,448 | -$1,305,613 | -6% | -7% |
| Webster County | $17,766 | -$564,594 | -4% | -4% |
| Whitley County | -$330,121 | -$1,756,515 | -5% | -5% |
| Williamsburg Independent | -$210,245 | -$426,134 | -8% | -8% |
| Williamstown Independent | -$240,747 | -$438,017 | -8% | -9% |
| Wolfe County | -$315,439 | -$725,473 | -8% | -6% |
| Woodford County | -$2,224,083 | -$2,764,935 | -10% | -10% |
Source: KyPolicy analysis of Kentucky Department of Education data. Payments include base SEEK plus add-ons, transportation, and the enhanced Tier 1 match of 17.5%. Estimates use projections for SEEK parameters developed by the Kentucky Department of Education for 2027 and 2028. Local effort includes the required 30 cent plus local Tier 1 match. Inflation estimates are from the Consensus Forecasting Group official estimate. Table omits Cloverport Independent due to anomalies from its virtual school.
