$3,000 meals, $2,000 on chocolates: How FCPS staff spent nearly $2.6 million in six months
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- FCPS staff charged over $2.6M on district credit cards in six months.
- Spending included $3,000 meals, hotels, and international travel.
- Officials pledged expense cuts amid scrutiny and a $16M budget shortfall.
Fayette County Public Schools employees racked up more than $2.5 million in charges on school-issued credit cards from August 2024 to January 2025, according to the district’s financial records.
A Herald-Leader review of 215 pages of credit card statements shows about 135 high-ranking Fayette County school administrators spent $2,570,611 on district-issued Fifth Third Bank credit cards during those six months.
Among those charges were 34 meals that cost between $500 and $1,000, and 23 meals that cost more than $1,000. Almost all the meals were in Lexington, according to credit card statements. One out-of-state meal was for $948 at Ellen’s Stardust Diner in New York City.
District officials said some of the charges — including $32,000 at Crank and Boom ice cream — were paid for through donations. Others, such as the meals, $3,300 at an ax-throwing entertainment complex and thousands of dollars in specialty chocolates, were approved and paid for by school officials.
There were also thousands of dollars in hotel stays during that time period, including a trip to Finland.
The Herald-Leader’s analysis of six months of credit card spending comes amid months of growing frustration from some Fayette County Public School board members, taxpayers, parent and some state legislators on how the $827 million school district is managing its finances.
Questions about the district’s spending heightened in May after it was revealed Kentucky’s second-largest district had a $16 million projected budget shortfall. A school finance official has also claimed she was suspended for sounding the alarm about rising costs and a shrinking contingency fund.
The latest analysis comes on the heels of the Herald-Leader reporting on travel-related expenses by FCPS staffers. In December, the newspaper reported the district had spent $3.6 million on more than 200 trips for administrators and teachers during the 2023-24 school year. That’s more than the Kentucky’s other large school districts, including Louisville’s Jefferson County Public Schools, which spent $2.3 million during the same time frame.
After months of questions about travel expenses from the media and board members, Superintendent Demetrus Liggins agreed in August to put some limits on travel funded by the general fund, the district’s main checking account. Only mandatory or necessary travel will be allowed, Liggins said.
He said he was restricting overnight trips and would no longer purchase staff appreciation gifts. Liggins also told legislators during a Sept. 16 legislative hearing he was limiting professional development trips to those conducted on site.
It’s not clear if Fayette County School Board members see high-dollar meal charges on school-issued credit cards. The Herald-Leader asked the five-member board about those credit card charges and if they had reviewed them. No board member returned the newspaper’s emails.
Miranda Scully, a spokeswoman for FCPS, said there are controls and reviews on credit card purchases. She also said some of the expenses charged to cards were repaid by donors. Other charges were for school-related events.
“Controls on the cards restrict the merchant categories where they can be used, as well as spending limits per transaction, spending limits per billing cycle, and caps on the number of transactions allowed per day or per billing cycle,” Scully said.
The credit card statements were released by Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, who, along with other legislators, questioned Liggins about FCPS spending during a Sept. 16 General Assembly Interim Joint Committee on Education.
Hotel stays in Helsinki, Louisville
In addition to spending at local restaurants, district officials also charged taxpayers for stays in hotels.
In November alone, district staff spent $86,246 for hotel stays at education conferences across the country, credit card statements show. There were 108 charges for hotels in November. The credit card statements do not say how many rooms were charged or for how many people.
And not all of those hotel stays were in the U.S.
Houston Barber, a deputy superintendent over finance, traveled to Helsinki, Finland, in November. He charged $882 for a hotel stay there, November statements show.
Scully said the trip was part of Global Cities Education Network annual symposium, which in 2024 was held in Helsinki. In October of 2023 FCPS hosted this event in partnership with Commerce Lexington in Central Kentucky.
Liggins traveled to Australia in 2022 as part of the same Global Cities Education Network, which is run by the Asia Society and encourages best practices for school districts in larger cities across the world, according to its website. The receipts for that trip totaled at least $6,869, the bulk of it for airline tickets, according to receipts for Liggins’ expenses, which were obtained through the Kentucky Open Records Act.
During the Sept. 16 legislative hearing about FCPS spending, Liggins told state legislative leaders he had to rebook the trip due to an emergency, which drove up the cost. Liggins said there were workshops offered on best practices for social and emotional issues that were putting Fayette County children into crisis.
School administrators also charged taxpayers for overnight stays in Louisville and Cincinnati, credit card records show.
In August 2024, one administrator charged $52,673 for the Galt House in Louisville.
Scully said the bill paid for 112 principals to attend a conference for the Kentucky Association of School Administrators, which focused on local and state issues: “This was an opportunity for our campus principals to avail themselves of the national speakers at the KASA conference and familiarize themselves with statewide changes for the upcoming year, while also attending FCPS-specific sessions addressing districtwide initiatives and expectations.”
She added, “A total of 112 campus principals and district leaders attended the four-day event at the Galt House, with 13 individuals staying one night, nine individuals staying two nights and 71 staying all three nights.”
School travel policy allows administrators to stay in hotels if the distance is more than 60 miles, Scully said. Lexington to the Galt House is 75 miles.
In November 2024, there were 15 charges for hotel stays in Louisville and Newport, totaling $82,835, an analysis of credit card statements show. Lexington to Newport is 83 miles.
Eating out at Malone’s, Wild Eggs and Cracker Barrel
FCPS administrators also spent $60,781 on 57 meals that were more than $500, credit card records from August 2024 to January show.
The statements do not identify how many people attended each meal. Some favorite restaurants for Fayette County top administrators include A.P. Suggins Bar and Grill, Cracker Barrel and Malone’s; each restaurant appeared on credit card receipts more than three times.
Some of the priciest meals and food purchases from August 2024 to January include:
- $3,300, Sedona Taphouse in December.
- $2,949, Wild Eggs in August.
- $2,864, Cracker Barrel in December.
- $2,500, Malones in December.
- $1,979, Old Kentucky Chocolates in August.
- $1,967, Olive Garden in November.
- $1,723, Texas Roadhouse in December.
- $1,650, Papa Johns in September.
- $1,588, Panera Bread in October.
- $1,586, Cracker Barrel in October.
Below are some of the cities outside of Kentucky school administrators traveled to in November 2024, according to credit card statements.
It’s not clear how many people were included in each hotel charge. For example, teachers typically do not have credit cards, per school policy. When teachers travel, hotel and airplane flights are often charged by school administrators.
Some of the conferences school officials attended in these cities include the Aurora Institute Symposium in New Orleans, the Innovative Schools Summit in Chicago, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages in Philadelphia and the National Black Educators Conference in Atlanta, according to board meeting minutes.
The school board must approve all travel to conferences.
Some of the cities school officials traveled to:
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Tampa, Fla.
- Philadelphia
- New York, N.Y.
- Aurora, Colo.
- Memphis, Tenn.
- Seattle
- New Orleans
- Chicago
- Athens, Ga.
- Murfreesburo, Tenn.
- Anaheim, Calif.
- Houston
- West Palm Beach, Fla.
- Baltimore
FCPS defends some travel expenses, mum on others
The vast majority of credit card charges were to familiar retailers: Amazon, Sam’s Club, Kroger and Wal-Mart, the Herald-Leader analysis reveals.
Only administrators, including directors and school principals, are allowed to have credit cards, according to district policy, which FCPS provided to the Herald-Leader. That translates to roughly 135 people with credit cards, school officials said.
In its travel policy, the district limits the amount an employee can charge for food at out-of-state conferences up to $65 per day. For in-state conferences, it’s $50 per day.
But its policy on food and restaurant expenses in Fayette County or for school events is broad.
“Food/refreshments may be purchased with District funds for FCPS employees and volunteers engaged in official school/District business in the following situations: total school-level faculty or District-level department staff and/or committee meetings, professional development activities, District-wide recognition events, and District-level recruitment seminars,” the policy states.
The policy states purchases can not go over the state-published meal per diem for non-high rate areas, or more expensive cities. According to a July 2024 memo from the state Finance and Administration Cabinet, meal limits for non-high rate areas are $12 for breakfast, $15 for lunch and $23 for dinner.
The credit card statements do not list the purpose of the meals topping $1,000 or the number of attendees. The statements also do not make it clear what food was consumed.
Still, FCPS officials did defend and explain some of the spending.
The $1,979 spent at Old Kentucky Chocolates in August were gifts for first-time principals, Scully said.
The $2,500 charge at Malone’s, a popular Lexington steakhouse, was for a middle school volleyball banquet. The Bryan Station Middle School principal put the charge on their credit card. The parents and boosters later repaid the school, she said.
The $3,300 charge to Sedona Taphouse was for a principals’ luncheon, according to a receipt Liggins’ turned in for the event. It is not clear how many people attended the event. The Herald-Leader obtained the receipt through a Kentucky Open Records Act request.
The more than $3,300 spent at Battle Axes, a popular Lexington entertainment venue that includes ax throwing, was for 80 school employees from Deep Springs Elementary School. Scully said the expense was approved by the school’s Site-Based Decision-Making Council, which helps decide how school funds are spent.
“Food and beverage costs were paid personally by those in attendance, and no alcohol was consumed,” Scully said.
This story was originally published September 29, 2025 at 7:38 AM.
