‘Community is fed up.’ Group urges Fayette County school board to take action on Liggins
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Committee urged Fayette County Board of Education to quickly resolve Liggins dispute.
- District cut over $20 million from a $711.3 million tentative general fund budget.
- Audit of budgeting, procurement cards and travel will be presented in early August.
A Fayette County Public Schools’ committee created to restore confidence in the controversy-plagued district urged the Fayette County Board of Education Wednesday to move quickly to settle a contentious employment dispute with Superintendent Demetrus Liggins.
“The two sides need to get in a room and get this settled,” said Hunter Stout, one of nine members of the Fayette County Board of Education’s Finance and Accountability Committee. The committee was created in January to help the district oversee its finances and restore trust.
The district is in the midst of multiple audits and examinations after it announced earlier this year it had discovered its books had been misstated for decades. The district has had to cut more than $20 million from its current-year tentative general fund budget of $711.3 million.
Meanwhile, the five-member Fayette County Board of Education and Liggins have been in a nearly-month long protracted discussion about Liggins’ employment status.
“The longer this drags out, the more money it costs in legal fees, which we can’t afford right now to begin with,” Stout said during Wednesday night’s Finance and Accountability Committee meeting. “And we are closely approaching the start of the school year. This is a huge distraction for the district, the teachers, families, and most importantly the children. And the longer this drags out, the more it is going to end up impacting the kids in the system. They need to get this resolved and get it resolved quickly.”
“The community is getting very fed up” with the lack of resolution, Stout said.
Liggins was placed on paid administrative leave June 10. The district has not said why.
A lawyer for Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, who is also an administrative assistant with the district, filed a complaint with the district shortly before Liggins was placed on leave. Camuel received a printed email under her door at work that purported to be from a Louisville law firm warning criticism of Liggins could be considered defamatory.
The Louisville law firm has denied writing the email or ever working with Liggins. A video shows Liggins placing a paper under Camuel’s door. Liggins has said he gave supportive notes to staff but did not write the falsified email or place it under her door.
Liggins and his lawyer have demanded Liggins be reinstated, alleging the district violated the Open Meetings Act when it placed Liggins on leave. The school district has said it followed the law. Liggins has appealed the open meetings decision to the Kentucky attorney general. He has also filed a complaint with the state Office of Education Accountability.
The board has hired Ashland-based VanAntwerp Lawyers to investigate Liggins.
The board met July 6, but made no decisions about Liggins.
Fayette County Board of Education Chairman Tyler Murphy did not immediately comment.
‘We are all at a loss right now’
The committee voted Wednesday to send the board a resolution asking it to resolve the unknowns surrounding Liggins’ future. The wording of that resolution is still being worked out.
Mike Foley, another member of the committee, agreed with Stout. It’s not just the legal fees. Too much time and energy has been spent on Liggins, Foley said.
“They got to get together and get this resolved,” Foley said.
Other members of the committee, which includes FCPS school personnel and members of the business community, said there is confusion within FCPS. Many administrators don’t know what’s going on, some staff said.
“We are all at a loss right now,” said Sophie Schwab, a teacher and a committee member. Schawb said she and other FCPS employees frequently get screenshots of news stories from family, friends and others about various issues in the district followed by the same question: What’s going on?
Staff don’t know what to say. Because they don’t know, she said.
An audit by a Missouri-based law firm examining the district’s budgeting, procurement cards and travel will be presented in early August, said interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch.
On Wednesday, Koch presented the committee with multiple ways for the district to show how it will track recommendations from that audit.
That corrective action plan will be public.
Communicating that correction plan to school personnel, families and taxpayers will help restore trust, said Jill Angelucci, an FCPS principal and committee member.
“The biggest question I’m getting is: How did this happen?” Angelucci said. When the district can answer that question, it will be a critical first step, she said.
Koch, who was hired in March to help the district untangle its finances, said they also need to manage people’s expectations. It took years for the district’s financial problems to develop.
“The board has asked us repeatedly what we need,” Koch said. “My answer is always patience. We need your patience.”
“I know it’s not fair to ask the community for patience because this is all taxpayer money,” Koch said. “But our problems didn’t happen overnight and they’re not going to get fixed overnight. We’re looking at years of recovering from this.“
