(FRANKFORT, KY) – Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) members held a discussion about the board’s priorities and strategic planning for the next state budget cycle, during the virtual KBE meeting on May 6.
As outlined in KRS 156.024, the KBE makes recommendations to the governor regarding all formal Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) budgetary requests before they are submitted to the governor and executive branch. These requests are submitted as part of the budget-making legislative session every two years.
Brian Perry, KDE’s director of government relations, provided an update to board members regarding outcomes of the 2026 legislative session and presented a timeline for board members to consider for setting budget-related priorities for the 2028-2030 budget cycle. As part of the proposed timeline, KBE members were asked to use this summer to envision the critical items the board would like to address during the upcoming 2026-2028 biennium. In May of 2027, board members would be asked to consider KDE’s 2028-2030 additional budget requests, or requests for funds over the KDE baseline budget.
As part of its regular annual retreat in August, the board will review board goals and objectives, identify major issues likely to face the board in the coming year and establish priorities for board action.
Board members, including KBE Chair Sharon Porter Robinson, spoke about the need for discussing priorities early.
“If it's important enough for us to say we're going to go for it, our advocacy efforts have to be planned. They have to be executed in a way that involves the most important assets that we have, which is the local community advocacy and the voice of those who work with us in partnership: our teachers, parents, and local community groups,” Robinson said. “So, it's about knowing what we need and being able to launch a really effective effort to bring it about.”
Perry mentioned House Bill 257 from the most recent legislative session, a bill to reimagine Kentucky’s state assessment and accountability system, as an example of legislation that required years of planning and work with legislators to get across the finish line. Perry detailed the legislation with Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher and KDE Associate Commissioner Jennifer Stafford before discussing where the board’s most recent legislative priorities stand with other bills that were passed during the 2026 session.
Perry explained how several bills aligned to the board’s goals of supporting the educator workforce and addressed cleaning up statutory language to remove outdated references. He also reviewed other proposals that did not make their way through the legislative process or did not receive additional funding this year.
Perry and Fletcher said one of the ongoing challenges to address with the legislature is how to modernize school facilities funding.
“Our current approach to school facilities funding needs to change, particularly because many districts do not have sufficient opportunities to fund projects through nickel taxes,” Fletcher said. "More broadly, the structure of facilities funding warrants careful review and modernization. I do not have the answer, but it is an issue we must examine collectively as a Commonwealth as we consider the path forward.”
The board also reviewed how the legislature provided funding over the next biennium for specific school projects, career and technical education and other education initiatives across several different pieces of legislation.
The KBE’s next scheduled meeting will be held June 3-4 in Frankfort.
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