NTI costs FCPS $223K per day, superintendent says as snow closes schools

Every day that Fayette County Public Schools uses non-traditional instruction or virtual learning, it costs the district about $223,000, Superintendent Demetrus Liggins told school board members at Monday’s meeting.

The cost is due to impacts on the school district’s nutrition budget when there’s no money made from school meals, Liggins said. Liggins asked the school board to weigh the financial implications of using NTI days versus traditional snow days given the severity of the winter weather. The district has canceled classes for seven consecutive school days in the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern on Jan. 24 and Jan. 25. The city has struggled to clear ice and snow covered roads.

“I have to make some tough decisions about NTI versus snow days,” Liggins said. “Our nutrition budget suffers every time we have a snow day or NTI day because there’s no revenue (from school meals).”

“We lose approximately $223,000 a day when we have NTI days because there’s no way to recoup those funds because students do not come to school to make those up,” Liggins said.

While there are impacts to the school’s nutrition budget on NTI days, the district saves $9,000 a day on diesel when FCPS is not running buses, he said.

If the district continues using traditional snow days, those days can be made up, and the $223,000 per day can be recouped, Liggins said. NTI days do not have to be made up.

However, traditional snow days would extend the school year.

The money lost on NTI days will come out of the budget’s general fund, Liggins said.

So far this winter, FCPS has used four NTI days (Jan. 26-29), and Tuesday will be the sixth traditional snow day (Dec. 2, Dec. 12, Dec. 15, Jan. 30, Feb. 2-3).

The Kentucky Department of Education allows school districts a total of 10 NTI days per academic year, a district statement said. FCPS initially chose to use only four in 2025-26 as part of the district budget adjustments. The district has also designated Feb. 3 as the sixth regular snow day with classes canceled. The district is already making up a traditional snow day on March 20.

Board Chair Tyler Murphy suggested getting recommendations from staff and families, though the ultimate decision lies with Liggins, the statement said, adding, “Board members also recognized that teachers need time to prepare additional NTI elementary packets and secondary lessons.”

Liggins will bring funding considerations for NTI days to the Feb. 9 planning session.

District not overspending, officials said

Also on Monday night, Rodney Jackson, the district’s executive director of Financial Services, presented a checkpoint on the current budget for fiscal year 2026, saying that Fayette County Public Schools is not overspending, revenues are higher, expenses are stable, and the fund balance is stronger.

The district’s budget problems have dominated public discussion since spring of 2025.

This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 9:59 PM.