Special Fayette County school board meeting is to discuss superintendent investigation
A Fayette school board member confirmed Wednesday that a special meeting called for next week is to discuss an investigation that found multiple policy violations by Superintendent Demetrus Liggins amid district budget issues.
Earlier this month, an attorney hired by the Fayette County Board of Education to investigate Liggins’ role in tending to district finances found he failed to comply with two policy obligations. The investigation also found Liggins failed to follow board governance while the district faced a budget crisis.
The school board met in closed session for nearly two hours Monday, then emerged to say a special meeting had been called for next week. Officials previously declined to say what the special meeting would be about or what Monday’s closed session was about.
“A special meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 4, at 5:30 PM to continue discussion of next steps related to the independent investigation report released February 9 by Leigh Latherow of VanAntwerp Attorneys, LLP, as referenced in the Board Chair’s statement at the time of the report’s release,” Monica Mundy told the Herald-Leader Wednesday morning.
Other school officials declined to provide additional information. School board chairman Tyler Murphy told the Herald-Leader Wednesday morning, “The purpose of the meeting will be addressed in the public notice for the meeting, which will be forthcoming in accordance with established procedures. They should be getting that out in the next day or two.”
FCPS budget issues
Fayette County Public Schools acknowledged last year it was facing a projected $16 million budget shortfall, and a contingency fund that was expected to be big enough to fill that gap actually held much less money than expected.
Latherow was hired to investigate Liggins’ role in the budget issues, and the attorney’s report found there “was sufficient information to find that Dr. Liggins failed to comply with the obligations of him set forth in Policy 02.12 (Administration: Duties of Superintendent), Board Policy 04.1 (Budget Planning and Adoption), and the School Board Governance Manual.”
The report also said Liggins should have looked deeper into the district’s financial situation by at least May 2025, which is when school board members first discussed the possible $16 million budget gap during a meeting. The report also said Liggins did not have an effective budgeting process in place to monitor expenses and how they affected the district’s budget, and didn’t have the right personnel and systems in place to address financial issues.
Liggins has admitted to not handling the situation as he should have in statements shared since the investigation report was released.
Liggins said the report confirmed what he had already shared with the community: “As superintendent, I relied too heavily on the leaders and teams working in the area of budget and finance every day when I should have been asking sharper questions and demanding more comprehensive detail.”
Liggins reiterated those comments in a statement to the Herald-Leader Wednesday.
“As I shared when the report was released, the matters identified have been acknowledged, and I continue to address them,” he said. “I look forward to learning from the remaining reviews and any additional feedback from the reports and the Board as we maintain a strong focus on continuous improvement. Together, we will keep Fayette County Public Schools moving forward and centered on student success.”
Earlier this month when the report was released, Murphy said, “the board will carefully consider the findings of the investigation and “anticipates making a determination on appropriate corrective measures in the coming weeks.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2026 at 11:42 AM.