The Bowling Green Independent School District Board of Education on Monday approved the 2026-27 draft budget — and while Kentucky hasn’t yet determined schools’ main funding allotments, BGISD has estimated some cost changes for known factors such as predicted growth and scheduled salary increases.

Mandated by the state, the draft budget projects $77.8 million in revenue, $77.6 million in expenses and $12 million in contingency funds, according to BGISD Director of Finance Shaunna Cornwell. Because the General Assembly hasn’t yet determined next year’s foundational funding formula for Kentucky public schools, Cornwell rolled over this year’s working budget from September for the draft while accounting for 143 new students, representing 3% enrollment growth.

BGISD’s upcoming tentative budget, due in May, will follow the General Assembly’s biennial SEEK determination and provide far more accurate budgeting projections, enabling BGISD to prepare for the next school year. But for the draft budget, it’s far too early to tell how program funding will be allotted, Cornwell said.

“It’s basically a full carryover with a few tweaks to the budget,” Cornwell said. “I have no confidence that this is at all going to look like what our working budget is going to look like because we don’t know what state legislation is going to look like or what our staffing allocation is going to be.”

Added BGISD Superintendent Gary Fields: “A lot of this is mainly just wait and see.”

At the current SEEK rate, the 3% growth is anticipated to bring in $776,000 — but after subtracting about $350,000 for scheduled “step” salary increases, that would reflect a draft budget increase of $393,000. Then, BGISD would need an additional six to seven staff to teach those 143 additional students — which would cost around $382,000 and nearly offset the remaining $393,000 surplus, according to Cornwell.

BGISD also plans to save approximately $111,000 — $86,000 in the general fund and $25,000 in food service — because the Pension Board decreased BGISD’s mandatory contribution to the pension rate from 18.6% to 17.4%.

Meanwhile, the food service draft budget — separate from the operating budget, which covers most school operations — projects $7,149,000 in revenue, which, after covering the annual step increase of $26,000, leaves a $114,000 surplus. But it’s unclear at this juncture how much of that will remain, as BGISD will need more staff and food to keep up with the growth, Cornwell said.

The draft budget lists $398,000 in revenue and $688,566 in losses for the daycare, indicating a $290,566 deficit. But this is again a rollover of last year’s budget for the Little Purples Academy — which BGISD launched last semester with a cautious supply of staffing to meet state criteria and potential growth. BGISD intends to review its finances as it progresses into its working budget, Cornwell said.

The draft budget also doesn’t account for inflation, a factor that BGISD anticipates it will be better able to gauge in the tentative budget — but the district estimates it’ll be around 2.5% to 3% of total district spending.

Healthy facility financing

BGISD stated that it has very healthy financing for facilities — enough to cover Bowling Green Junior High renovations and a secondary project over the next 24 months based on the District Facilities Plan, Cornwell said.

At BGISD’s Finance Corporation meeting Monday, Cornwell said the district has a bonding capacity of $46 million.

BGISD anticipates that without legislative change, it’ll receive $460,000 in its capital outlay fund and $8.35 million in its building fund from state funding and its own required funding match.

It has about $5.55 million in debt service next year.