Beshear authorizes additional SEEK funding following shortfall

After facing a funding shortfall, Governor Andy Beshear announced that he has authorized for additional funds to go toward the Support Education Excellence Kentucky (SEEK) funding program at Thursday’s Team Kentucky Update.

The SEEK fund is a formula program that provides state funding for public school districts across the state. The funding is used to help cover costs for transportation, special education, free or reduced lunches and for classes teaching the English language.

The Kentucky Department of Education previously announced that the 2024-2025 SEEK general fund had a shortfall of nearly $15 million. Beshear says this shortfall occurred because of an increase in student enrollment and the number of students that require special education resources.

Beshear says a bill was approved that would grant $14.7 million from the state’s budget to resolve the fund’s deficit.

Fletcher says it’s the education department’s duty to ensure that students across the state are equipped for the future and he thanked Beshear for helping his department fulfill that duty.

Beshear says $14.7 million was the maximum amount he was able to authorize and looks forward to hopefully supporting more public school programs in the future such as universal preschool.