FCPS superintendent’s expenses: 29 trips, $28K on food, nearly $152K total bill

As questions continue to swirl about how Fayette County Public Schools officials are spending taxpayers’ dollars, a Herald-Leader analysis revealed Superintendent Demetrus Liggins charged nearly $152,000 in expenses from January 2023 to May 2025.

And another $30,000 in expenses were charged for his “executive-level transition” in the weeks before he started as superintendent in July 2021.

The Herald-Leader analysis of nearly 950 public records showed at least $151,920 was racked up on Liggins’ procurement card, a specialized credit card that businesses and governments use to streamline the purchase of goods and services.

Receipts for Liggins’ charges show the superintendent spent public funds on meals, hotels, plane tickets, Uber rides, rental cars, parking, a trip to the Cleveland Clinic and routine office supplies.

His card was also used to send teachers to conferences, pay for student field trips and to buy tickets and supplies for student activities.

School board chairman Tyler Murphy said Tuesday the board’s role is one of governance and oversight, but board members don’t review all receipts and spending. Board members approve all staff overnight travel, including Liggins’ professional conferences.

“We approve the policies and overall budget and rely on internal controls for district operations,” he said. “These exist because no board of education can feasibly review every individual, day-to-day receipt.”

The Herald-Leader investigation of Liggins’ spending shows at least $25,969 was charged for food, including meals for staff, students and others; $44,150 on hotels, and $8,084 on airfare.

Among the receipts were 12 food orders or meals that cost between $300 and $1,000, and at least eight that cost more than $1,000.

At least $9,088 was for meals for his cabinet, district chiefs and administrators at Lexington restaurants such as Malone’s, Papi’s, Wild Eggs and Sedona Tap House.

Liggins also went on 29 board-approved trips during that 28-month period, crisscrossing the country to attend conferences or group meetings. He traveled to San Francisco and San Diego, as well as New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

There were travel receipts from Dallas, Atlanta, San Antonio, Salt Lake City and Lincoln, Nebraska, and several others cities.

Liggins’ travels actually started before he officially started July 26, 2021. Records reviewed by the Herald-Leader show the newly hired superintendent was reimbursed $29,204 for airfare, lodging and moving costs prior to starting at Fayette County schools in 2021.

Miranda Scully, a spokeswoman for the school district, did not provide a breakdown of itemized costs.

The pre-start expenses were needed to “facilitate a smooth transition from his previous location in Texas,” she said, adding the board was committed to Liggins’ “executive-level transition.”

On June 4, 2021, board members announced Liggins, then a superintendent of a district near Dallas, was hired to succeed Manny Caulk, who died in December 2020.

In the seven weeks before he started in Lexington, Liggins’ expenses meant taxpayers paid more than $4,000 weekly for his transition, records show.

The Herald-Leaders analysis of receipts from charges on Liggins’ procurement card comes as some school board members, taxpayers, parents and lawmakers have questioned how the district, with a $827.2 million budget, is spending taxpayer money.

The dust-up over the district’s finances has led some in Frankfort to call for Liggins’ resignation.

School board member Amanda Ferguson has served alongside four superintendents, including Liggins. She said he is more likely to travel than his predecessors.

“While I do not have specific records or exact numbers, I feel that Dr. Liggins definitely travels more than previous superintendents I have worked with, and the trips tend to be nationwide more than throughout Kentucky or the region,” Ferguson said.

“In addition, it sounds like he incorporates more of his staff when dining out and entertaining, given some of the charges (the Herald-Leader has) cited.”

Other school board members did not respond to questions about Liggins’ travel.

District defends spending

The Herald-Leader’s analysis reveals that in some cases, high-priced meals Liggins charged taxpayers involved other district officials.

In February 2023, for instance, Liggins and Fayette County board members dined at Morton's the Steakhouse in Louisville. The $834 receipt included filet mignon and a chilled seafood platter. School officials said the dinner was in conjunction with a professional conference.

On April 21, 2023, Liggins and district staff members had a “working meeting” dinner in Los Angeles. The meal at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse, cost $1,108 for 14 people at $69 each. Local officials were in LA for the College Board’s Preparate conference, a national gathering focused on preparing Latino students for success.

On Dec. 4, 2024, Liggins charged more than $3,300 for lunch for principals at Sedona Tap House in Lexington. The annual off-site appreciation and working lunch meeting for principals and district leaders is a longstanding tradition that predates Liggins’ tenure, a district spokeswoman said.

In addition to food, Liggins also used public funds to purchase table sponsorships at local fundraisers and charitable events. The list included gatherings related to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Urban League and the Children’s Advocacy Center totaling $5,200.

It’s a practice district officials are ending, Liggins said in an August school board meeting.

The district, and Liggins and his top lieutenants, have been ensnared in controversy since around Memorial Day, when it was revealed the district was quietly planning to increase the county’s employment tax and using additional dollars to offset a budget deficit.

As the Herald-Leader and other media outlets focused more attention on district spending and state legislators leveled harsh criticism at Liggins, the district began to institute changes to its travel policies.

The school board is in the process of hiring an external auditor. That individual will examine the district’s budget and spending patterns, including any potential changes to its travel policy.

The district is also considering changing its policy to limit the amount spent per person per meal. Officials are considering other changes regarding travel and food to have “more efficient practices,” Scully said after the Herald-Leader asked about Liggins’ and other school personnel travel.

All of Liggins’ expenses were vetted and approved by district’s finance personnel. That vetting includes providing documentation for the charges, school officials said. Those school personnel also report to Liggins.

Scully said the district is in the midst of multiple audits related to its expenses and budget, including one by State Auditor Allison Ball. It has also quit buying tables at sponsored events and stopped buying staff gifts.

“We want to remind the Herald-Leader that we have proactively requested and are engaging in scheduled internal and external investigations and examinations by the state, the school board and our superintendent,” Scully said in a written statement.

“To ensure a fair and comprehensive review of all practices, we respectfully ask our community and all stakeholders to allow these processes to be completed and the facts to be fully determined before drawing final conclusions.”

In a statement to the Herald-Leader, Liggins defended his travels and related expenses.

“Personally, throughout my tenure as Superintendent, I have intentionally sought out local, statewide and national professional learning experiences to stay on the leading edge of educational innovation,” he said.

“Each conference I attend is carefully chosen and Board-approved, with the clear goal of bringing back actionable ideas to enhance Fayette County Public Schools’ programs, operations and culture of continuous improvement.”

When asked for specific examples of how his trips helped student achievement or improved operations, Liggins said travel to conferences has helped ready the school district for new challenges post-pandemic. But he did not offer any concrete or specific examples.

Questions about spending on travel, food continue

In May, school officials in the state’s second-largest district said that they had a projected $16 million shortfall, which they now say has been corrected. The contingency fund has dwindled by millions.

That has triggered heightened concerns about how other parts of the budget are being spent, especially related to food, meals and travel.

The Herald-Leader reported Sept. 29 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.

The Herald-Leader reported on travel-related expenses by district staff in December. The newspaper reported the district had spent $3.6 million on more than 200 trips for administrators and teachers during the 2023-2024 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 that same time frame.

The school board approved 29 trips for Liggins from January 2023 to June 2025 at projected total cost of $66,824, according to school board agendas, to places ranging from California to New York.

Calvin “Dee” Cranfill is a certified public accountant who was a contract investigator for the Kentucky Office of Education Accountability for a decade. He said even if Liggins followed school policy on expenses, Cranfill would have flagged many of the meals the superintendent charged.

“If we thought it was excessive, even if it followed board policy, we made a point about it,” Cranfill said.

The Herald-Leader relayed information about Liggins’ expenses to Cranfill for his analysis.

Liggins paying for lunch for students on an advisory council is likely a non-issue. But spending thousands on dinner for principals and school staff should raise eyebrows, he said.

Moreover, there were times when receipts Liggins’ provided to school administrators did not make it clear how many people attended the event. That’s a no-no, Cranfill said.

Internal Revenue Service standards require itemized receipts that show the purpose of the meeting and how many people attended, he said.

The school district has said 135 employees have procurement cards. Those cards are largely for school principals and top administrators, school officials have said.

Cranfill said one way to cut expenses is to dramatically curtail the number of people who have those cards. Making people pay for those expenses upfront and then get reimbursed by the school district may stop some of the more questionable expenses, including multiple meals for more than $1,000.

“If you want to control expenses, that’s how you do it,” Cranfill said.

$5,000 leadership trainings, $2,000 dinners

Here are some receipts and other records from Liggins’ procurement card charges from 2023-2025 and the district’s explanation for some of those costs :

• $5,000 Invitation-Only Leadership Training Series: Scully said this is a yearlong professional learning program designed for accomplished superintendents. The program is by invitation only, with a limited number of superintendents across the nation selected for a program focused on innovation, system improvement and continuous growth. The receipt does not provide details on where the training series was held.
• $1,088 student advisory team luncheon: This was held at Sedona Taphouse on April 29, 2023. It was for the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council’s end-of-year celebration and debrief session. Students were brought off campus during their lunch period to engage in reflection on their experiences, provide feedback on district initiatives, and celebrate their contributions to the council’s work throughout the year.
• $9,261 for professional fees with a consulting company called Prime Chief of Staff in 2023. It was 12-month professional learning and consulting engagement designed to support Tracy Bruno, the district’s chief of staff, in leadership development and organizational effectiveness.
• Charitable expenses: $2,000 Urban League Dinner Table, Oct. 12, 2023; $1,050 for seats for principals at Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, Jan. 14, 2025; $2,000 table for Children’s Advocacy Center of the Bluegrass and LexArts 2024. District officials said they will no longer buy tables at fundraisers.
• $2,114 at Malone’s for the Superintendent’s Advisory Council Luncheon, May 8, 2024: The advisory council consists of students who weigh in on issues affecting the district.
• $1,602 at Papi’s Mexican Restaurant: For a Dec. 6, 2023, district leadership meeting.
• More than $1,000 for a medical payment, hotel and rental car when Liggins went to Cleveland Clinic in July 2024: A 2024 addendum to Liggins’ contract says the superintendent shall submit to an annual physical examination of his choice, and the district will pay the portion not covered by his health insurance to a maximum sum of $5,000. He must provide the board with a written report from his examining physician that attests to his fitness to perform the job.
• $2,310 for a school board retreat in Bardstown in 2024: It included hotel and food.
• $842 on Nothing Bundt Cakes for teacher gifts in November 2023: District officials have said they are no longer going to spend money on staff gifts.
• $444 at Wild Eggs March 11, 2023, for a full day cabinet meeting: The sessions started in the morning and extended through the day.
• $501 at Moe’s for food: Served at an April 17 cabinet meeting.

Where did Liggins go?

Liggins continued to travel from January 2023 to May 2025 from New York City to California, receipts show.

The 29 board approved trips were held on 76 work days, according to school board agenda documents.

In 2023, the board approved his travel to 15 conferences. That included the School Superintendents Association National Conference on Education in San Antonio, which brings together education innovators, the Learning Ideas Conference in New York City, which focuses on innovation in research and learning, and the National Executive Leadership Conference in San Francisco.

That conference is geared toward superintendents, according to its website.

In 2024, his travel included conferences for superintendents including the National Alliance of Black School Educators in Atlanta, the Superintendents Collaborative in Henderson, Nevada, and the National Superintendent Networking Event in Nebraska.

In 2023, Liggins went on these school board-approved trips:

• San Antonio, Feb. 14-18.
• Washington D.C., March 17-21.
• New York City, June 12-17.
• Atlanta, June 19-22.
• Philadelphia, June 24-29.
• Rochester, New York, July 18-22.
• Chicago, Aug. 23-25.
• Louisville, Sept. 21-28 (multiple meetings).
• Nashville, Oct. 16-19.
• San Francisco, Oct. 24-29.
• San Diego, Oct. 25-28
• Louisville, Nov. 9-10.
• New Orleans, Nov. 28-Dec. 3.
• Louisville, Dec. 3-5.

In 2024, the school board approved these trips for Liggins:

• San Antonio, Feb. 15-17.
• Austin, Texas, April 24-26.
• Henderson, N.V., June 26-29.
• Salt Lake City, July 21-23.
• Dallas, Texas, Oct. 15-20.
• Hampton, Virginia, Oct. 20-22.
• Lincoln, Nebraska Oct. 31-Nov. 3.
• Atlanta, November 20-24.

In 2025, these trips were approved by the school board through June:

• Anaheim, Calif., Feb. 18-20.
• Oceanside, Calif., March 25-28.
• San Antonio, June 28-July 3.
• Washington D.C. , April 24-25.
• Atlanta, June 19-21.

The board-approved conferences also have other costs in addition to hotel and airplane ticket charges.

There was $14,000 in conference registration fees for Liggins and others, including one conference for the Great City Schools Council in July 2023 with registration costs of $1,275.

There were thousands of dollars in professional memberships and subscriptions, including $446 for Herald-Leader subscriptions over that two-year period.

The district has clearly outlined procedures regarding professional learning opportunities and the travel associated with those learning opportunities, Scully said. In its travel policy, the district limits the amount an employee can charge for out-of state meals to $65 per day,

For in-state meals it is $50 per day.

Not all of Liggins’ travel since he became superintendent in 2021 was in the U.S.

The district spent at least $6,869 in 2022 for Liggins to attend a conference in Australia, a receipt shows. It was part of the Global Cities Education Network which encourages the best practices for school districts in larger cities in the world, Liggins has previously said.

Liggins defends spending

Liggins told lawmakers, when he was summoned to Frankfort to discuss his travel, his spending and professional learning had been helpful to increase academic success in a post-pandemic world.

At least seven plane tickets between $500 and $1,000 were charged to Liggins’ procurement card. Some of the expenses included plane tickets and hotel rooms for other FCPS staff.

At a Sept. 16 Kentucky General Assembly Interim Joint Committee on Education meeting, Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, questioned if some of his plane tickets were for first-class tickets.

“I’ve never flown first-class on the district’s dime ever. So that’s simply not true,” he replied.

Receipts and other district documents show at least $44,150 was charged to Liggins card at hotels at education conferences across the country and other travel. Some hotel stays charged to his procurement card were for other educators in the district.

School travel policy allows administrators to stay in hotels if the distance is more than 60 miles.

From 2023 to 2025, Liggins charged at least $3,621 on hotel stays in Louisville connected to education conferences or professional learning.

“Every single trip that takes place is scrutinized,” Liggins told lawmakers during the Sept. 16 meeting. There were some trips, he said, “that more people (staff) went on than should have.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 7:49 AM.