FCPS board members don’t see eye to eye after no action taken on superintendent

After meeting multiple times to discuss Superintendent Demetrus Liggins and investigations into how Fayette County Public School finances were handled, the Fayette County Board of Education on Wednesday took no personnel action against Liggins.

The school board met for just over an hour and a half in closed session Wednesday, as part of a special called meeting. Board members emerged from closed session at 7:09 p.m.

After coming out of the closed session, Board Chair Tyler Murphy said no personnel action was being taken Wednesday night. Murphy added the board will “continue its assessment and next steps” with Liggins going forward.

“The board recognizes the FCPS community’s interest in the findings of Leigh Latherow’s investigation,” Murphy said in a statement after the meeting. “The board also recognizes the importance of this matter as well as a fair and thorough process. Although the board is not taking any action tonight, it will continue its assessment of next steps and will address those steps with Dr. Liggins in relation to the findings in Ms. Latherow’s report.

“We are committed to making FCPS a community where all students can succeed. Meeting this goal is not just about what happens in the classroom but how the resources entrusted to the school district are managed. The board is committed to continuous improvement.”

The meeting was held virtually, with all five board members attending, and no members of the public chose to watch the meeting from the board of education’s administrative building. No questions were taken from media, and the board adjourned from the meeting shortly after coming out of closed session.

A few hours later school board members Monica Mundy and Amanda Ferguson issued a statement saying they disagreed with the majority of the board.

“We disagree with the direction outlined by the Board Chair and supported by two other members after tonight’s special called meeting. We have listened to our community and believe their collective voice deserves to be acknowledged through our actions. Our community is owed a process grounded in clear communication, accountability, and good faith leadership,” Mundy and Ferguson said.

The meeting was set to discuss an investigation that found policy violations by Liggins amid district budget issues. A report from that inquiry was released Feb. 9 and found that Liggins failed to follow policy on budget issues, and also found he failed to follow board governance. That investigation was handled by Leigh Latherow of VanAntwerp Attorneys, LLP.

The school board met for nearly two hours in closed session after the report from Latherow was released, and later confirmed that Wednesday’s meeting was to continue conversations about Liggins and the district’s prior budget issues.

Discussions about significant budget problems started last year when the district shared 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.

Liggins has since said the district now has a balanced budget and has rebuilt its contingency fund.

Liggins also has acknowledged errors in the way FCPS handled its budget issues, but says he is “confident” in the direction the district is headed.

“As superintendent, I relied too heavily on the leaders and team working in the area of budget and finance every day when I should have been asking sharper questions and demanding more comprehensive detail,” Liggins said after the Latherow report was publicly shared. “... My leadership had been intentionally centered on student outcomes, academic growth and the overall health of our school system. While those priorities guided my focus, I regret that I was not more hands-on in the day-to-day operations of budget and finance.”

A second investigation into the handling of finance issues, released earlier this week, found systemic deficiencies for the district’s budgeting. That investigation was initiated at Liggins’ direction, focusing on people who were Liggins’ subordinates, and was conducted by the law firm of Tueth, Keeney, Cooper, Mohan and Jackstadt, in Missouri.

That investigation “identified systemic deficiencies in forecasting, financial monitoring, and internal communication,” according to the investigation, which was released by FCPS Monday. The law firm found there was unauthorized use of the district’s contingency — or rainy day — fund, which resulted from breakdowns in communication among senior personnel and repeated failures to identify and address emerging budget deficits in a timely manner.

The law firm said it did not find any intentional wrongdoing, but said some staff failed to fulfill their responsibilities.

Liggins, who has been superintendent since 2021, said the report “identifies significant systemic deficits in budgeting and financial processes, as well as breakdowns in communication and collaboration, that must be addressed.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 8:17 PM.