Fayette County Public Schools needs to use rainy day money to meet obligations

Fayette County Public Schools is seeking to use its contingency fund — or rainy day money — “to complete our obligations for the (fiscal year) 2025-26 school year,” the agenda document for Monday’s school board planning meeting says.

FCPS faces significant financial headwinds, with Superintendent Demetrus Liggins and Acting Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch recently saying that district finances have been misstated for years.

“Approval is requested for Board authorization to utilize funds from the General Fund Budget Reserves (Contingency),” the agenda document says.

“Per policy, the General Fund Reserve is designed to provide the Board with options and act as a crucial buffer against unforeseen risks,” the agenda document said.

The document also said the district needs to use contingency money to “successfully manage differences in cash availability and protect our primary educational and instructional services.”

The agenda document did not say how much money district officials want to use from the contingency, or what amount it currently is.

The FY 2027 tentative budget’s contingency is $11.4 million.

Koch said recently the stated amounts of the contingency, or rainy day fund, for the last year or two also were not accurate.

Koch has previously said the district will have to restate its finances for fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2026.

For fiscal year 2027, district officials say, the contingency fund is at 2% of the total general fund budget, which is the state-mandated minimum.

The total general fund budget in the tentative budget is $711.3 million .The total tentative budget for FY 27 is $880 million.

This story was originally published June 6, 2026 at 10:26 AM.