Perry County Schools braces for lower enrollment, state funding cuts

Perry County Schools is heading into its 2026-27 budget with fewer students and less state money tied to those students, a combination that could force harder choices on staffing, transportation and building upkeep. The district says enrollment has slipped to 4,023 from 4,500 in 2003, while Kentucky districts prepare for lower SEEK aid, the formula that drives state funding for local systems.

SEEK, the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky program, is a formula-driven allocation of state funds. The Kentucky Department of Education says the calculation includes transportation costs and special-needs students reported by districts, which means a drop in enrollment can affect more than classroom headcount. In Perry County, where school budgets help pay for after-school programs, athletics, support services and facilities, fewer students can mean less money spread across the same fixed costs.

That pressure has already shaped the district’s history. Perry County Schools says declining enrollment helped lead to the closure of Lost Creek Elementary in 2008 and Big Creek Elementary in 2013. The district now operates 10 schools, including eight elementary schools, one K-12 school and one 9-12 high school, and it employs slightly over 750 people, making it the second-largest employer in Perry County. Any slowdown in hiring, program reduction or service consolidation would ripple well beyond the classroom.

The state funding backdrop adds another layer of strain. The Prichard Committee says Kentucky’s FY 2025 and FY 2026 budget raised Tier 1 maximum equalization to 17.5% of each district’s calculated SEEK base. The governor’s proposal would set the SEEK per-pupil base guarantee at $4,701 in FY 2027 and $4,818 in FY 2028, up from $4,586 in FY 2026. Kentucky Policy says real total budgeted SEEK funding is 24% below 2008 levels after inflation, underscoring how districts are being asked to absorb enrollment losses inside a funding system that has already been squeezed for years.

For Perry County, the immediate decisions are likely to fall to superintendent Victor Campbell, assistant superintendent Johnny Wooton and school board members Dale Morris, Richy Miller, Ryan Miller, Johnny Feltner and Berl Hurt. The district’s mission language says it aims to provide a safe and engaging school environment while preparing students to be post-secondary ready, community leaders and innovative thinkers, but maintaining that goal will get harder if fewer students keep shrinking the revenue base.

Facilities could become part of the same equation. The district’s facility plan references a new South Perry Elementary with capacity for 650 students and a new Robinson Elementary to replace the flood-damaged Robinson campus, subject to FEMA funding. That leaves Perry County balancing long-term building needs against a budget cycle shaped by falling enrollment and weaker state support, a mix that could determine which schools, services and neighborhoods feel the squeeze first.