‘Angry’ Fayette school board leaders call financial misreporting ‘deeply unacceptable’

Fayette school board chair Tyler Murphy and vice chair Amy Green called the revelation that Fayette County Public Schools has misstated its financial condition for nearly 20 years “deeply unacceptable.”

The two released a joint statement shortly after FCPS Superintendent Demetrus Liggins and Interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch announced Thursday that incorrect financial practices dating back to 2008 have left the district’s budget in a worse state than expected. Koch said the district will seek a short-term loan to cover costs, because FCPS likely has significantly less money than previously thought.

“What has been uncovered to this point appears to reflect years of financial misreporting going back as far as 2008. This is deeply unacceptable, and we are angry on behalf of every student, family, educator, and taxpayer,” Murphy and Green said.

The statement is largely a departure for the two school board members.

Parents and other citizens have criticized the majority of board members — especially Murphy — for not asking enough questions publicly about the budget. Board members Amanda Ferguson and Monica Mundy have frequently opposed the rest of the Fayette County Board of Education and questioned Liggins about district finances, before and after the amount of the district’s contingency fund was misstated last year.

Kentucky lawmakers are trying to remove Murphy from his seat on the school board, asserting concerns about his lack of oversight on budget issues.

Liggins said Thursday there are two ongoing external investigations and audits, which he recently received updates regarding, and they made him more concerned.

“While the final reports are not yet complete, the information I’ve learned is deeply concerning. It appears that our district finances have been misstated for years, that multiple federal and state requirements may not have been followed, and that our accounting procedures may not have been aligned with acceptable practices,” Liggins said.

Liggins said Thursday there are three staffers on the district’s finance team. One is on medical leave, and the other two are on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the ongoing investigations.

Thursday, Green and Murphy said they authorized an external audit because they owe the community the truth.

“Now that we have more information, we owe them something more: accountability, transparency, and action – that is an expectation the school board has made clear and that defines our directive to the superintendent as he takes necessary corrective measures,” their statement said.

The chair and vice chair said the full board must be “unified, aligned, and committed to working together as one team alongside the superintendent to lead these necessary improvements and to continue seeking the truth.”

“There is too much at stake for anything less,” they said. “That is precisely the commitment we made – both with the commissioning of the external audit in the fall and the requiring a timely and thorough response from the superintendent in response to the information we have received in this process. Addressing an issue of this magnitude and duration requires disciplined, collective leadership, and continual oversight rooted in facts, guided by evidence, and focused on moving the district forward with clarity and purpose.”

Ferguson did not immediately comment to the Herald-Leader Thursday.

Mundy thanked FCPS staff who have “worked diligently to uncover and report” the actual financial situation the district faces.

“It has been my concern that our financial situation has not been clear, and that we need a complete understanding of where we are so we can address these serious financial issues,” Mundy said. “The consistent concerns raised by our community have led us to this moment, and now is the time to listen, engage, and prioritize our students. I do not take lightly the impact this will have on all our community. Difficult decisions lie ahead that will affect FCPS staff, students, and families.”

Board member Penny Christian said the district must now “reverse what is apparently almost decades of incompetence and careless performance with as little harm to students as possible.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 5:47 PM.