Why are travel expenses on FCPS board agenda despite superintendent directive?

Fayette County Public School officials say several employee trips remain on the agenda for potential approval at Monday night’s board meeting, despite a recent order from Superintendent Demetrus Liggins, because the trips were submitted several weeks ago.

The board will be asked to approve $28,187 in trips for school staff, paid from the budget’s general fund, according to Monday’s agenda. The request comes just three days after Liggins, citing a “crisis point” in the budget, said the district would adopt several cost-cutting measures, including limiting employee travel funded by the general fund to only mandatory trips.

But since the requests predate Liggins’ order, they remain on the budget for potential approval, district spokesperson Miranda Scully said Sunday. The school board and administration will review each request, weigh it against the new directive, and determine if the travel is essential.

“We have kept these items on the agenda to ensure a full and transparent review process and to avoid any unintended interruption to critical professional learning opportunities, especially for our teachers and staff,” Scully told the Herald-Leader. “It is important to remember that professional development requests appearing on the agenda do not guarantee the professional learning experience will occur. We do not anticipate most of the professional development requests to occur, and we will not know until after review.”

Liggins’ limit on district travel was among several directives announced one day after he said the district’s contingency fund was significantly smaller than originally expected — it was estimated to be about $42 million, but may be as low as $15 million to $22 million.

The district faces a $16 million budget deficit, and Liggins has said cuts are coming. The district sought to increase the occupational license tax rate in Fayette County in a move the Kentucky attorney general described in June as unlawful, and it’s also facing a special examination by the Kentucky auditor.

In all, the district will be asked Monday to approve $46,747 in travel expenses — in addition to the $28,187 from the general fund, there are $13,033 from grants, $5,353 from third-party sources and $174 from school funds.

Of the $114,613 the district has spent on travel since the beginning of 2025, $54,239 was paid for through the general fund.

Destinations for trips up for potential approval Monday include St. Louis, San Diego, Seattle, Charlotte, N.C., Santa Ana, Calif., and Fort Worth, Tex.

Retirement overages

Another cost-cutting initiative Liggins mentioned Friday in a message to parents was to hire retirees only for substitute teaching roles.

The district has also said it needs about $2 million more for retirees who have come back to work as substitute teachers.

On Friday, the district explained that employees and the district each pay in to the state retirement system for educators, and more money for that was needed during the last school year than in the year before.

“Since payment calculations are individualized, those contributions are regularly reviewed,” the district said in the document sent to parents. “Discrepancies are billed, and that amount is deducted from the carry-forward. The estimated total for 2024-25 is $2.7 million compared to roughly $255,000 in 2023-24.”

The Herald-Leader asked Sunday whether hiring retirees only for substitute teaching roles would be a new cost-cutting measure or had already been in effect.

“Our administration team is reviewing to ensure alignment with Friday’s directive. We will provide additional information as part of the superintendent’s monthly updates,” Scully said.

Reassigning district divisions

Liggins said he will reassign the financial accounting and benefits services department and the budget and financial planning department to report directly to him.

Scully declined to comment on whether the restructuring was accompanied by action against any employees after the contigency fund was found to be smaller than expected. Scully said the district does not comment on personnel matters.

Liggins has also said he will launch an internal review of both current and past financial procedures to ensure best practices.