The U.S. Department of Education pulled out of an agreement to give Kentucky school districts more time to spend COVID relief funds in late March, but left the door open for case-by-case relief.
The Kentucky Department of Education, which appealed the decisions on behalf of school districts, said the federal agency approved two projects out of Boone County — worth about $44,600 — while denying $10.6 million for several other projects in a letter from the federal department late last week.
Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher said in a statement he is “pleased” to see Boone County receive approval, but disappointed by the larger funding denials.
“It is unfortunate that Kentucky has been denied more than $10 million – so far – to provide resources and improve the learning environment of our students,” Fletcher said. “We expect the federal government to honor its promises to states and to our students.”
The department still has several asks out to the agency, requesting review of projects for the rest of the cancelled $34 million designated for local districts and $18 million for statewide initiatives. Many of the projects that did not receive extension approval from the education department were for long-term infrastructure projects.
For example, the department denied extending the spending deadline for the construction of a new high school in Christian County Public Schools. According to their website, the district broke ground on the new high school in September 2023, which would combine two high schools and the local career and technical education center into one building. The now rescinded funding amounted to $7.98 million.
“While we hope for more good news in the coming days, we stand ready to appeal the projects that have been denied,” Fletcher said. “We will continue to fight for the resources our schools and districts have been promised by USED to continue their mission of providing the best education possible to Kentucky’s students.”
The education department did not return a request for comment in time for publication. In the letter sent to the Kentucky education department, the main reason the department gave for denying the school districts’ requests was that the projects, which the agency had previously approved, do not “provide a direct academic service to students to mitigate learning loss.”
Four projects in Clinton County Public Schools were also rejected, totaling $1.53 million in federal funds. They included projects to add outdoor classrooms at the early childhood center and elementary school, install district wide security cameras and repair moldy and damaged roofs.
The letter noted that the state can appeal the decision within 30 days and must prove the projects are necessary to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on students’ education.
Two Boone County projects approved
Two smaller projects in Boone County Public Schools were approved — the only two so far. They approved an extended deadline to spend $26,000 for an “interactive online learning platform” and another for nearly $18,600 to participate in one year of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
However, the department declined another request for about $167,500 for an online service that provides academic assessments. Like the other projects under review, the Boone County projects already received approval from the education department last year, when so gave the local school districts the go ahead to continue spending already appropriated COVID relief funds until March 2026.
Then on March 28, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a letter to the Kentucky Department of Education, informing them they would be unable to receive federal fund reimbursements after that day, pulling back the agreed upon deadline by a year. The federal agency told states that the funding was for relief from a pandemic that is now over, and thus they were cancelling the extended deadline.
This story is republished with permission from WKMS. Read the original.
Sylvia Goodman is Kentucky Public Radio's Capitol reporter. Email her at sgoodman@lpm.org.
