If a petition seeking to recall a property tax rate approved by the Woodford County Board of Education (BOE) last month gets enough signatures and the BOE reverts to a lower non-recallable tax rate, Woodford County Public Schools (WCPS) Superintendent Lori Jones said additional budget cuts will be necessary next school year.
To be successful, the recall petition will need to have 1,517 qualified signatures, which is 10 percent of the 15,173 votes in Woodford County in the last presidential election on Nov. 5, 2024, according to Woodford County Clerk Sandy Jones. The petition period of 45 days will end on Nov. 8, and Jones will have 30 days for signature verification (Dec. 8, 2026), according to a 2026 statutory timeline provided by Jones. The BOE will have 15 days after certification to rescind or reconsider its tax levy.
“The reason we started this is because we’re taxed to death,” said Petition Committee Chair Malcolm Collins. He told the Sun during a telephone interview on Wednesday morning, “I think we have a wonderful school system, but I don’t think the taxpayer should pay for the mistakes of past board members.” He estimated, “We’re 30 percent successful of what we need” as far as signatures on the recall petition.
If the recall is successful, WCPS will face additional budget cuts totaling $1.3 million next school year, Jones told the Sun.
Following a tax hearing on Sept. 24, the BOE voted 4-1 to hold the property tax rate at 63.3 cents per $100 of assessed value, with board member Sherri Springate voting no. No one from the public spoke at the hearing.
It was the second BOE hearing and vote on the rate because WCPS was required to receive its certified tax base numbers from the Kentucky Department of Education – not the Kentucky Department of Revenue – even though the numbers were the same, according to district Finance Director Jason Gribbins.
Before both votes, BOE member Sarah McCoun lauded the efforts of Jones and employees across the district for coming together to eliminate unnecessary spending since Jones became superintendent in July 2025. “So I feel like under Dr. Jones’s leadership, and with the support of the rest of the staff here,” McCoun said, “we are in a much, much healthier, much more responsible trajectory” in terms of spending.
A non-recallable rate of 62.5 cents will only save taxpayers less than a penny per $100 of assessed value, BOE member KT Gould pointed out, but holding the rate at 63.3 cents will put WCPS in a better financial position to pay its operating expenses, including salaries for teachers and transportation for students.
Collins, whose wife Crystal is running for Adam Brickler’s District 2 seat on the Woodford County Board of Education in the Nov. 3 General Election, said, “We’re struggling more and more every day with the economy to pay just the basic necessities. And yes, eight-10ths of a cent doesn’t sound like much, but in today’s economy every penny counts.”
In addition to rising operating costs, WCPS has facility needs and also has the lowest-paid staff – certified and classified – among schools in this area, Jones said. She said Anderson County Public Schools has now passed Woodford County. That’s a concern, she said, because WCPS wants to continue giving students “high level of instruction.”
“I was surprised by the recall because we felt so supported after we did our shows, our (budget) conversations in the community,” Jones said. “We felt key citizens came out in support of us and saw the need for us to hold the rate, and really expressed that. So we were surprised (by the recall petition) because everyone who came to those sessions said, ‘It is clear you need this money; the school system, our kids need this money.’ ”
While Collins said he understands the need for additional funding, “… I’m sure we can trim the fat a little more,” arguing the additional money generated by the higher, recallable tax rate will not make much of a difference.
In addition to graduating from Woodford County High School himself, Collins said both of his daughters and two sisters are WCHS grads, “so I have strong ties to Woodford County High School.”
“And I understand that the superintendent is under a lot of pressure and got handed a mess, and I get that,” Crystal Collins told the Sun during a separate interview. “But this is still a right for taxpayers to push back … and (tell WCPS) be responsible with the money that you have.”
In addition to rising operational expenses such as utilities, Jones said the deep cuts made at Central Office this year – over $1 million – can’t happen again because WCPS needs “efficient operations here so that schools can do what they need to do.” So staffing cuts next school year will get “closer and closer to impacting students,” she added.

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