Gov. Paul Patton said Tuesday he is abandoning an attempt to retrieve $18 million in health care funds from school districts, including about $1.4 million from Northern Kentucky districts.

Patton

        The governor's decision came after the Council for Better Education threatened to sue if state officials didn't rescind a request for surplus funds in flexible spending plans, which are unspent state contributions to health insurance for school employees.

        “The governor's decision opens up some options for kids in classrooms that wouldn't have existed if the state had pressed for and ultimately reclaimed the flex spending dollars,” said Brad Hughes, spokesman for the Kentucky School Boards Association.

        Mr. Patton said he would not use the funds to help balance the state budget, which has not been passed.

        The state has been operating on a provisional gubernatorial “spending plan” since the new fiscal year began July 1.

        Mr. Patton said the superintendents convinced him that K-12 education has suffered budget losses due to higher attendance and transportation costs.

        “Allowing our schools to keep the surplus flex spending funds restores this reduction and ensures that education does not incur a budget cut,” Mr. Patton said.

        “Kentucky's school districts appreciate the short-term relief provided by the governor's decision today,” Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit said. “However, he made it very clear this was a one-time exception and the balances for plan years 2002 and 2003 would be returned to the state as planned in House Bill 1.

        “He also encouraged the education community to be very cautious in spending due to the uncertainty about state revenue for 2002-03 and 2003-04.”

        Meanwhile, the governor called a statewide education summit July 30 in Frankfort to assess and evaluate the progress of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990, and to determine what challenges lie ahead in the education reform movement.

        “The governor's summit may be a concrete step to getting the state's leaders pressing for answers to the question: are we providing adequate resources to grow the learning opportunities for kids,” Mr. Hughes said.

        But Beechwood Superintendent Fred Bassett suggested the governor's motive for calling the summit was political.

        He said the governor “appears to be concerned about the possibility of 141 school districts through the Council for Better Education suing the state over a lack of adequate and equitable school funding during an election year and is, therefore, calling a school funding summit.”

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