During the special session, this was reported in the Courier-Journal:

“(House Speaker) Greg Stumbo said it would require a bond issue of about $700 million, or slightly more than $60 million in annual debt payments to replace all 160 schools.”

For the sake of discussion can we assume that for every $1 million in annual debt payments – the state gets $11.6 million in bonded funds? ($700 / $60 = $11.66) Sure – why not.

So – using this simple logic – is it reasonable to suggest that the $4.3 million that the state puts into the ICC program could provide $50.13 million to replace Kentucky’s “deteriorated” schools?

Let’s look at the most recent list of Category 5 schools in Kentucky:

Anderson County Early Childhood Center $7.1m

Beechwood Ind. Beechwood Elem. $5.6m

Carter County Carter Elem. $8.3m

Clark County* Central Elem. $12.8m

Fleming County Ewing Elem. $9.6m

Fleming County Hillsboro Elem. $2.3m

Jackson County Jackson County High $12.1m

Leslie County W.B. Muncy Elem. $4.1m

Metcalf County N. Metcalf Elem. $10.3m

Perry County D.C. Wooten Elem. $13.4m

Pike County Phelps Elem. $11.1m

 Total: $96.7m

So – can we conclude that if the legislature redirected the funds currently dedicated to the ICC program toward bonding for school facilities – we could provide enough resources to completely address Kentucky’s Category 5 problem within two budget cycles?

Let’s see: $4.3m x $11.66m = $50.13m. And $50.13m x 2 (the number of budget cycles) = $100.26 million. There’s even some to spare to get to work on Category 4 schools.

Now, we admit that we’re being a bit sarcastic about the exercise – but let’s look beyond the tone and look at the substance.

We’re told Kentucky is in “fiscal crisis” and we need to be prepared to continue “tightening the belt” (which we support). But what we must also take into account is whether the dollars we are currently spending are producing enough return to justify their ongoing appropriation. It would be nice to know if the ICC programs are doing that. Why?

Because if not, we just found $50m in the next biennium to fix Kentucky’s “deteriorated” schools.

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* Fannie Bush Elem is listed as a Category 5 school though with $0 in facility needs. There is a note to “see Conkwright Middle” which is a Category 4 school in Clark County with a resource requirement of $8.6m. It is unclear exactly what this means, though. So we have left Fannie Bush Elem. off this list. Further, Pilot View Elem in Clark County is a Category 5 school but also with a $0 facility need. Any other Category 5 school in the state that had a $0 resource requirement was not included.