Fayette County schools spends more on travel than KY’s largest districts
Editor’s Note: Fayette County Public Schools originally provided the Herald-Leader with incorrect information about the total amount spent on travel. The story has been updated to reflect the correct amount spent on travel for the 2023-2024 school year.
Fayette County Public Schools spent more than other large Kentucky school districts dished out to send administrators and teachers to conferences and training last year, a Herald-Leader analysis of public records shows.
For 2023-2024, the latest year complete information is available, the school district spent $3.6 million for more than 200 out-of-state trips for teachers and administrators, according to school board documents and district officials.
All but roughly $123,000 was paid for using state, federal or local funds, public records show.
That’s more than the $2.3 million that Jefferson County Public Schools, the state’s largest district, spent during the same time period, according to information received through a Kentucky Open Records Act request.
That total also includes student field trips, Jefferson officials said.
Louisville’s Jefferson County is twice the size of Fayette County with 95,000 students and more than 6,800 teachers. Fayette County has approximately 40,000 students and 3,000 teachers.
Fayette County also spent significantly more on travel than Kentucky’s third- and fourth-largest public school districts — Boone County Public Schools, which has 20,000 students, and Warren County Public Schools, which has 18,000 students.
Boone County, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, spent $478,027 for the 2023-2024 school year. Warren County, home to Bowling Green, spent $639,310 on travel, according to information the school districts provided the Herald-Leader.
Fayette County schools’ travel budget has hovered around $4 million for the past two years.
The district spent $4.2 million on travel in 2022-2023. That’s a jump from the prior year when the the district spent $1.9 million, according to information provided by the school district.
Not all of the money spent on trips came from the general fund — the district’s main bank account. Many trips were paid for using federal and other types of grants, said Fayette County Superintendent Demetrus Liggins.
In 2023-2024, $3,635,378 was spent on travel. Of that, $1,415,788, or about 35%, came from the general fund
In 2022-2023, $4,201,778.11 was spent on travel. About one-third of that, $1,180,648, came from the general fund.
FCPS says travel is used to advance student achievement
Liggins defended the travel expenses.
Those out-of-state trips and conferences provided teachers and administrators with valuable instruction and tools that have helped lift student achievement, he said.
Some of the improvements in achievement include increases in graduation rates, increased test scores, no schools identified by state officials as needing additional support or improvement and rapid increases in the number of students receiving industry-recognized certifications.
“Our investment in professional development opportunities allows FCPS to stay at the forefront of innovation and ensures our staff are the best at their craft, which ultimately benefits our students and community,” Liggins said.
Liggins said he could not speak to why Fayette County spends more on travel than other school districts.
“Each school district has its own unique priorities, and we cannot speak to the decisions or needs of other systems,” he said.
“Our investments in professional learning are directly tied to our mission of preparing students for a global society and our commitment to providing a world-class education for all students. Professional learning and continuous improvement were expectations we heard loud and clear from our community when we developed our 2022 New Way Forward strategic plan.”
The five-member school board approve those professional leave requests at its monthly planning meetings.
Tyler Murphy, school board chair, said the district is within its travel budget. How much that travel budget is for the current fiscal year was not immediately available.
Those trips are not draining other parts of the school district’s $817 million budget to fund trips, he said.
“These monies are budgeted,” Murphy said.
Murphy said before a leave request gets to the school board, those trips are vetted by teachers and administrators’ immediate supervisors. Each school’s site-based decision-making council has a school improvement plan.
Often those out-of-state trips have to align with a goal in those school improvement plans —such as increasing English language learners achievement —to get approval at the school level, he said.
Trips have been rejected at the school level before they are presented to the school board, Murphy said.
“By the time an item reaches the board, it has already undergone a rigorous screening process,” Murphy said. “The superintendent also fields calls from board members as we seek clarification on agenda items, including travel, as we review the packet in preparation for the meeting. Many issues are resolved during the process.”
Fayette County, unlike other school districts, is not struggling to retain and attract teachers because it values professional development, Murphy said.
Murphy said he has recently proposed asking for quarterly updates on professional development so teachers and administrators can show the board how investment in travel has benefited other teachers or led to improvements in student achievement.
Those updates could include how a teacher used a training to train other teachers, he said.
“I think those are valid questions,” Murphy said of asking to see the district’s return on investment.
Some school board members have raised questions about some trips during board meetings.
Board member Amanda Ferguson has raised the most questions and has voted against some of those travel requests.
It’s not an easy vote, she said. Ferguson said she does not remember the school board rejecting a travel request since she took office in January 2023.
“On several occasions over the last two years, I have asked questions about some of these trips and voted against their approval,” Ferguson said.
“It is a difficult position to be in because I don’t want to single out any individual employee who is trying to learn new things and improve in their profession but I have often had concerns about the costs to the district outweighing the benefits,” she said.
When asked if some of those travel expenses could be spent on restoring positions that have been cut including arts teachers at various schools, Liggins insisted those positions weren’t cut.
Last year, families and students at multiple Lexington schools opposed proposed course cuts made by site-based decision-making councils, which make staffing and budget decisions for schools.
“This question is based on a misunderstanding and inaccurate media reporting. There have been no recent cuts to programs,” Liggins said. “For over 30 years, site-based decision councils, have made decisions based on the specific needs and desires of their schools.”
When asked why the school district didn’t save money and attend conferences and training virtually, Liggins said staff attends online training.
“FCPS takes full advantage of online professional learning opportunities when available, but many valuable trainings are not offered online,” he said.
Puerto Rico, England and Ron Clark Academy
The school district paid for more than 200 out-of-state trips from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, according to travel documents approved by the Fayette County School Board.
Some of those travel expenses were paid during the 2023-2024 school year, but the trips did not occur until later in 2024, the next budget year.
Three of those trips were out of the country. Those trips were:
- Three Henry Clay soccer staff attended a soccer conference in Manchester, England, on Feb. 15-20. Cost: $8,997.
- Two staffers went on a teacher recruitment trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico, from April 10-14. Cost: $11,200
- One employee went to a Spanish-language conference in Panama. Cost: $2,790
School officials told WKYT, the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner, the trip to England was paid for through soccer booster club money. District officials later confirmed booster paid for the trip.
The school district, and other school districts across the country, also have struggled to attract and retain Spanish-language teachers, local officials have said.
Some of the most expensive trips during the 2023-2024 school year included sending 21 administrators and teachers to the Council of Great Schools Conference Oct. 24-29, 2023, in San Diego, Calif. It cost $76,407.
Eleven employees went to a Visible Learning Conference in San Diego, Calif., from July 7-11 at a cost of $42,350.
Another favorite travel destination is the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. From June 2023 to October 2024, the school district spent $95,000 sending dozens of teachers and administrators to the Ron Clark Academy for various training sessions, school board records show.
Earlier this year, the school district canceled a convocation featuring Ron Clark after some raised questions about whether it was appropriate for the public school district to host a forum held by an advocate of private schools.
The Ron Clark Academy is a private nonprofit school that has won accolades for its student achievement and culture.
Liggins, however, said the convocation was canceled because teachers wanted to spend time preparing for the school year.
“The decision to cancel convocation earlier this year was not related to the speaker, Ron Clark, but rather a reflection of our commitment to listening to our teachers,” he said. “They made it clear that they needed more time in their classrooms to prepare for opening day, and we prioritized meeting that need.”
The Ron Clark Academy has provided valuable training for teachers, Liggins said.
“We continue to find immense value in the work and success of the Ron Clark Academy,” Liggins said. “The trainings they offer provide our educators with innovative strategies and best practices that have a direct impact on student engagement and achievement.”
He did not provide specifics.
Murphy, a public school teacher and long-time public school advocate, said he understands the questions about why the district has spent so much to send teachers and administrators to a private school. The school district can learn from private schools that are doing things right.
“If there are successes in a private school, those successes can be duplicated in public school,” Murphy said.
A Herald-Leader analysis of trips taken in 2023-2024, show the majority were for teachers. Approximately 8% of the costs were for administrators at the John D Price Administration Building.
The school board approved nine out-of-state trips for Liggins during the 2023-2024 school year. The costs were a little more than $23,000.
Some of those trips included an American Association of School Administrators conference in Salt Lake City, a National Alliance of Black School Educators meeting in New Orleans and a Council of Great City Schools Conference in San Diego.
Liggins said the school district carefully vets requests to attend conferences and various training workshops.
“Professional learning opportunities, including out-of-state travel, are carefully monitored to ensure that they are highly effective and directly aligned with our goals,” Liggins said.
“Learning from other districts across the nation that share similar characteristics is invaluable in helping us address our own needs while maintaining innovation and excellence.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 4:45 AM.
