As the school year began for students in the Commonwealth this August, Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS), one of the state’s biggest school districts, came under scrutiny by lawmakers and officials regarding their excessive spending in previous school years.
According to lawmakers in Frankfort, the district faced a $16 million shortfall the previous school year, prompting school board members to hold a meeting on Monday, Sept. 22, allowing residents of Lexington to discuss possible solutions to the school’s budget issue. The list of 10 recommendations, which the Board received from a District Budget Solutions Work Group, included the solution of raising the occupational license tax for residents of the school district.
The scrutiny of the district began when receipts from the school district were released, revealing massive amounts of spending by personnel at various schools. Some payments included the Superintendent of Fayette County Schools, Dr. Demetrus Liggins, who spent $60,000 in travel expenses in six months alone. Other spending issues included a $7,000 trip to Australia by Liggins, and the average credit card expense in the district was $400,000 a month.
Board Chair Tyler Murphy has also come under scrutiny for the schools’ budget shortfalls, and both he and Liggins have been called to resign by lawmakers in Frankfort.
Representative Matt Locket, a Republican from the state’s 39th House District, has been one of the biggest advocates for these resignations. “It goes way beyond the budget,” Lockett told Fox 56 News. “A lot of it comes down to trust. I think they have broken our community’s trust. And I don’t think that returns.”
Lockett continued by saying, “The district has become a case study in dysfunction, controversy and collapsing confidence.” He finished by saying, “Parents, teachers and taxpayers face a system where those entrusted with responsibility have squandered trust and undermined the very mission of public education.”
Residents of Lexington who attended the school meeting Sept. 22 voiced their frustrations with the Board members and Superintendent as well. One of those who attended the meeting was Noah Cornett, a Lexington local. He said, “There are a lot of reasons I have been speaking up at these meetings.” He continued, “I believe that our public school system is one of the greatest things ever produced. A system where people, no matter their wealth, status, etc., can be educated is honestly a miracle in a hyper capitalist country like ours.”
Cornett moved to Lexington in 2015 to attend the University of Kentucky, and has become a part of the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Bluegrass Democratic Socialists of America (BDSA). He learned of the shortfall through the BDSA and became passionate about the situation.
“Some of my allies at the American Federation of Teachers were the ones who informed me of the situation,” Cornett said. He followed by stating, “These are people that really care about their students and want what is best for them, and millions of dollars missing, $60,000 for Liggins travel expenses in six months and thousand of dollars spent on coffee orders, monogrammed robes for the school board and other expenses are not supporting the teachers and staff that have caused the massive educational gains that FCPS have made recently.”
Cornett stated his hopes for this situation. “I want to see one thing come out of this: transparency.” He continued, “I truly hope that if they are forced to do a forensic audit, that nothing illegal has happened. I hope it was just due to honest mistakes.” He concluded by saying, “But I don’t know how you have a short fall of over $16 million from honest mistakes.”
Despite the call for resignation by lawmakers and feelings such as Cornett’s being expressed, no Board Members have resigned as of yet. Superintendent Liggins agrees that “much of the criticism surrounding Fayette County Public Schools’ budget process has been warranted and taken responsibility for restoring community trust,” he said in a statement to Fox 56.
He followed with, “I have embraced every investigation, examination and audit, to uncover exactly what has gone wrong, determine how long it has been occurring and take decisive action to ensure it never happens again.”
The Board also voted on Tuesday, Sept. 23 to approve this year’s school budget of $827.2 million. Within the budget, the board agreed to cut $4.3 million by eliminating unfilled positions within the district. The Board also cut more than $580,000 in costs for traveling to conferences for professional development.” Regarding this new budget and its cuts, Liggins said, “the budget our Fayette County Board of Education will consider tonight is balanced without raising the tax rate and with continued support to classrooms.”
The District, despite its new budget, is still receiving calls from lawmakers for resignations, and a push for an external audit of the District’s funding is still being evaluated, according to WKYT. The conclusion of these controversies is yet to be seen, and may have new developments since the writing of this article.
Photo courtesy of Lex Today.
