Fayette schools must make $16 million in budget cuts. ‘How did we get here?’
All Fayette schools department budgets will be reduced by 20% to help address rising costs, but another $16 million must be cut from the general fund budget, officials said Monday.
Raising new revenue and reducing expenditures are necessary for the proposed $848 million budget for fiscal year 2026, officials said at Monday night’s school board meeting planning meeting.
“(Cuts) come with the difficult reality of impacting supports to students, campuses and classrooms,” said Ann Sampson-Grimes, the district’s executive director of budget & financial planning. To minimize that impact, the district may expand facility rentals, get more grants and introduce more taxes.
“There’s going to have to be some difficult decisions,” Sampson-Grimes said.
“How did we get here?” school board member Amanda Ferguson asked Fayette Superintendent Demetrus Liggins. She did not think last year’s budget was realistic and didn’t support it.
“Inflation has impacted us over the years,” Liggins responded, adding that Fayette schools have the highest-paid teachers and hourly staff in the state. “A combination of things has led us to this place. It’s unfortunate, but this is happening all over the nation at this point.”
Revenue has not kept pace with labor and food costs, district officials said. Contracts, insurance, utilities and insurance costs have increased. The number of schools and programs has increased while enrollment is flat.
The budget continues to be constrained each year, said Sampson-Grimes. She presented the proposed tentative budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, indicating the need to identify additional revenue sources and cuts.
“With unprecedented inflation, ongoing uncertainties around federal funding, tariffs and market volatility, it’s clear that additional steps will be needed in the future to reduce overhead costs,” said Sampson-Grimes.
The board will be asked to act on the budget and make additional changes at its May 27 regular meeting.
About $8 million in cuts have already been made, including to long-term disability, sick leave and permanent substitute teachers. District officials said no cuts have been made at schools.
“With your guidance, we’re confident that a balanced approach will ensure students continue to receive a quality education,” Sampson-Grimes told the board while presenting the tentative budget.
School board member Monica Mundy said it would be best to have schools and students “feel it the least.”
School board chair Tyler Murphy said the board should “protect the classroom” from cuts and balance them so the costs would not all be put on taxpayers.
He said the district had practiced sound fiscal decision-making.
If approved, the salary schedule — a sequence of salary levels— will include a 1% pay increase for certified and classified employees in Fayette County Public Schools officials said.
This story was originally published May 13, 2025 at 7:37 AM.