Texas firm recommended to audit cash-strapped Fayette schools. Board to vote

The Fayette County Public Schools’ audit committee is recommending the Texas firm Weaver and Tidwell conduct an audit of the financially troubled district, according to the agenda for the school board’s Nov. 24 meeting.

Nine firms applied to audit the district, according to the agenda.

The school board will be asked to vote on the recommendation at the 6 p.m. meeting.

The committee’s recommendation comes after Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball criticized the school board’s decision to pursue an audit of their own. Ball is also conducting a special examination of her own of financial trouble in the district that’s led some Republican lawmakers to call for Superintendent Demetrus Liggins’ resignation in recent months.

Ball asked district leaders to reconsider their current request for proposals for an audit and instead collaborate with her office to ensure responsible use of taxpayer funds, avoiding duplication and potential waste.

Many community leads and residents in Lexington had called for an external audit — including, potentially, a forensic audit that would dig more deeply than a standard audit — in addition to Ball’s examination.

The dueling audits will explore the district’s spending and budgetary problems. School leaders approved an $827.2 million budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, but its contingency, or rainy day, fund has dwindled, and the district previously said it was facing a since-resolved budget deficit of several million dollars.

“This RFP is the result of the request from the Board for an external assurance service (audit, review, or investigation) covering the specific scope,” the Nov. 24 agenda documents read. “This engagement will be conducted in conjunction with the State APA Audit, with the scope remaining flexible to reduce duplication. The Audit Committee is recommending the firm that best demonstrates an optimal balance of technical methodology, relevant experience, cost-efficiency, and timely resource availability to meet these requirements.”

At the school board’s request, the district audit committee issued a public request for proposal.

Interested auditing firms applied, district chief of staff Tracy Bruno told the Herald-Leader on Saturday.

“The committee then used a rubric to score each firm’s application. No employee of Fayette County Public Schools scored the firms during the process. Weaver and Tidwell had the highest score, therefore will be the recommended auditors presented to the board during Monday’s meeting,” Bruno said.

Weaver and Tidwell’s score was the highest of the nine applicants, according to agenda documents.

The other applicants were Harshwal, Plante Moran, Carr Riggs Ingram, Berry Dunn, CLA, Dean Dorton, Cherry Bakaert, Forvis, the agenda documents showed.

No additional information about those firms were in the agenda documents.

This article will be updated.

This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 1:22 PM.