Board of education grapples with funding cut

By Charles Romans

Carter County Times

The Carter County Board of Education is among the organizations feeling the impact of federal budget cuts. Recently the board learned that a portion of the funds they had received from the government through the Esser ARP Fund – or Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds under the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal grant program designed to provide funding to states and local districts to help them address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on K-12 education – had been ‘taken back’ by the federal government.

These funds had been earmarked in the board of education budget for the building of the new school. The funds came with a deadline but allowed for an extension of that deadline for extensive projects. According to Carter County Board of Education Superintendent Dr. Paul Green, Carter County’s extension had been approved until March of 2026 before the federal clawback.

“We were spending the money,” Green said. “That’s what is actually being spent on the site development project right now.”

Green said the board had spent about $9 million of the $13 million the school had been approved to receive, leaving approximately $4.1 million left. The board was spending roughly one million dollars per month on the high school project and would have completed the spending of the funds by July or August of this year, he said.

“But then we were notified that the federal government was, basically, whatever money had not been spent by the end of March this year, the federal government was taking that money back,” Green said.

The funds were dispensed on a reimbursement model, Green explained. The board of education spent money on approved projects and then would apply for reimbursement from the federal government.

“Every month we would spend the money, then file the request and the government would give that money back,” Green said. “So, we had 4 million dollars to be reimbursed for and then they pulled that money back.”

“We will still complete the site development project,” Green continued. “That is on schedule to be completed about September or October of this year. We are still planning and are in the final stages of the plan and schematic design for the new school.”

There may be some reevaluating, however, he said.

“Of course, by losing this money we are going to have to look at the overall scope of the project. We are going to have to look at the possibility of pushing it back until next spring, but we would not delay more than six months regardless. It might cause a small delay, but it may not. We may just move forward with the building, start the project, and hope that we get that money returned.”

The possibility does exist that the federal funds budgeted for the project could be returned, Green said.

“There is a process to go through, but at this point we are not sure if or when the funds might be returned.”

Currently the board is working with the State Education Department to submit an appeal on their behalf.

“The Kentucky Board of Education will submit the appeal to the federal Department of Education,” Green said.

The federal government will then make a ruling for or against the return of the funds, Green explained.

“Some states are actually filing lawsuits,” he added.

Green said that he didn’t want the residents of Carter County to think that the withholding of these funds from the federal government was going to prevent the building of the new high school.

“We have other money, and will continue moving forward with the project,” Green said. “But it does affect the overall budget.”

Green said that the project cost was over $100 million, and although $4 million is a lot of money, it isn’t enough to ‘break’ the project.

That amount of money based against the total project, Green said, would pay for a sports complex, for instance. So, the considerations the board are discussing are scenarios such as should they go ahead and build the school then wait a year to build athletic fields.

“Some of the amenities we might have anticipated having from the start might need to be ‘phased in’,” Green said. “But we are going to build the school.”

The new school project is still six months away from opening bids for construction, and there are always many factors in play. The tariffs could be a factor, as well as interest rates and bonds.

“A lot has changed in the last six months, and a lot could change in the next six months,” Green said. But the board will be moving forward in spite of any budget challenges.

“We are going to be hopeful that we get that money back, but there is no guarantee,” Green said of the appeal.

And though the board is exploring numerous options and alternatives, Green said that there is no plan to raise taxes to fund the building of the new high school.

“We are the third lowest tax base in this area,” Green said. “Our taxes in Carter County are the third lowest in all the counties in the Northeast section of the state.”

“It is disappointing the federal government chose to take back funds,” Green continued. “And it only hurts the students of Carter County. We were granted these funds, we were allocated these funds, and our extension was approved by the federal government. But we are being penalized because we took longer to spend the money than other schools.”

Most schools receiving the Esser ARP funds did use those funds for construction projects, but typically those projects were not on the scale of the Carter County project. Green said that nearly a dozen schools that he knows of with extended projects have lost the unspent portions of their funds, though he is not aware of how many of those schools have appealed the federal government’s decision. In the meantime, he said the Carter County Board of Education is moving forward in spite of the lost funding.

Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com