Petition started to save some Fayette County school jobs amid ‘crushing’ layoffs

A Fayette County parent has started a petition against the school district laying off its two-person Sustainability Team, who are among a growing number of Fayette County Public Schools employees to be let go as the district deals with significant financial issues.

Amy Sohner says the decision to eliminate that team will “cost students, classrooms, and our community far more than it will ever save.”

Several people — the district won’t say how many — were laid off at FCPS’ Central Office Tuesday after Superintendent Demetrus Liggins announced the district has had faulty accounting practices dating back to 2008 that are causing new budget strife. The severity of the problems has led interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch to recommend that the district get a short-term loan to pay its expenses.

Additionally, district officials say two finance employees have been placed on paid leave pending an investigation. A third finance employee is also away from the job on medical leave.

The parent’s petition is asking the district to reinstate the Sustainability Team immediately and to protect the programs that are simultaneously teaching kids and funding their education.

Sohner said the school district is ending programs that save energy and money,“ and teach future generations how we are connected to our local environment.“

“I believe we can reverse this if the FCPS administration sees how much our community values this for our city and our students,” she said. “I started a petition to show the administration how much people care.“

District spokesperson Miranda Scully did not comment on the petition, but said, “We understand that the community continues to have questions following the difficult decisions shared this week, and we want to acknowledge the weight of this moment.

“These are not just numbers on a page, they represent people who are a part of our schools and our community across Fayette County,” Scully said. “As shared, the reductions do not impact the number of teachers or paraeducators who serve students directly in the classroom. However, we recognize these changes will affect the level of support provided to our school campuses.”

Scully added that the district is “navigating these impacts thoughtfully and with care,” and appreciates the community’s patience.

Sohner said the positions are not a budget luxury.

“Cutting them doesn’t fix a budget problem,” said Sohner. “It creates one.”

The FCPS Sustainability Team provides direct environmental literacy instruction to over 600 students each year, she said. They coordinate districtwide Outdoor Classrooms, school gardens, and Farm to School programs.

The district’s website says the team is empowering students to create change through enduring improved sustainability by equipping school and community stakeholders with the tools and knowledge to protect our natural, human, and fiscal resources.

From clean energy and engineering to public health and urban planning, the fastest-growing careers of the next decade are rooted in environmental literacy, Sohner said.

A report for a five-year Sustainability Action Plan from FCPS shows the Sustainability Team had saved the district significant amounts of money. The program launched in 2010, and in 2024, it had saved FCPS over $24 million in cost avoidance.

Sohner said the savings come from saving money on utilities, using smart utility audits and sustainability initiatives.

Sohner said cutting the program “doesn’t fix a budget problem. It creates one.”

She said the two laid-off staff members lead the Bluegrass Youth Sustainability Council, a student-driven program through which more than 450 Lexington high school students have installed bottle refilling stations, solar benches, and recycling stations in every Lexington high school; planted over 200 campus trees; conducted more than 50 energy audits of FCPS buildings; and removed over 325 pounds of litter from school grounds.

Liggins had previously championed the program. When the five-year action plan launched in 2024, Liggins wrote, “we are cementing that commitment to implement fiscally responsible practices that also protect our cherished Bluegrass ecosystems.”

“When fully realized, Fayette County Public Schools will be positioned as a national leader in the three pillars of sustainability – environmental literacy, building impact, and student and staff wellness, “Liggins said of the action plan. “The mission of our school district to ensure all students achieve at high levels and graduate prepared to excel in a global society presumes a future in which there is a planet left to lead.

“As such, sustainability and environmental stewardship are inextricably woven throughout the daily work we do to help each and every child to fulfill their unlimited potential.”

How many FCPS employees have been laid off?

Tia Brown, an employee from the Library and Instructional Resources department who was laid off, estimates that somewhere around 100 employees at Central Office were terminated for the 2026-27 academic year.

District officials haven’t yet confirmed that and have not responded to requests for comment about the number of layoffs.

“It is important for people to know that while there is extensive bloat at the top, there are many low-level employees in the district office working tirelessly to help our schools,” Brown said.

She said the layoffs are unacceptable and she’s frustrated with how top school leadership have approached these new budget issues.

“This is not, as Dr. Liggins has claimed, taking responsibility. Taking responsibility is not saying you do while blaming previous administrations and anointing yourself the hero of the day,” Brown said.

State Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, is an administrative assistant to a chief officer at FCPS Central Office. She said Thursday morning, “what is happening in FCPS is nothing short of devastating. The weight of it is crushing hundreds of lives in real time.”

She said public servants, some of whom have given nearly two decades of their lives to serving Lexington’s children, are being shown the door through no fault of their own.

“They are now facing one of the tightest job markets in recent memory as direct casualties of gross financial mismanagement involving tens of millions of taxpayer dollars entrusted to this district,” she said.

Camuel said the laid-off employees are losing paychecks, health insurance, retirement security, and the ability to keep up with rent, groceries, car payments, and student loans in an economy that is already pushing working families to the breaking point.

She said they are also losing something harder to measure: the chance to continue serving students and families.

“As a legislator, I believe accountability must be demanded for the failures that brought the district to this point,” Camuel said. “The public deserves clear answers about how this happened. But as an FCPS employee, I also carry something more personal as I live through this crisis alongside my colleagues: grief.

“For my colleagues. For our students. For a community that deserves so much better than this.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2026 at 11:44 AM.