Fayette school board chair: No settlement offer was made to FCPS superintendent

Fayette school board chair Tyler Murphy said Monday no settlement offer was extended to suspended Superintendent Demetrus Liggins.

Liggins, who has been on leave since June, said through his lawyer on Friday that he had agreed in principle to resolve the ongoing conflict with the school board by reaching a settlement. But Murphy said Friday — and again on Monday — that is not the case.

“There is no settlement agreement with Dr. Liggins, nor was there. Neither the board nor any board member made an offer,” Murphy said. “Neither the board nor any board member accepted an offer. The suggestion that the board or any of its members made an offer or accepted an offer was false. Regardless, any agreement must be approved by the board at a duly called meeting.”

Murphy was responding to a statement from Amos Jones, a lawyer for Liggins, who said he was “flatly“ told by an attorney for the school board in a Monday email “that they have not agreed to settle the case.”

“It’s amateur hour at FCPS,” Jones said Monday. “We are appalled.”

Murphy first refuted the claim about a settlement on Friday night, telling the Herald-Leader no agreement had been made.

Liggins has been on leave since early June, and has repeatedly faced calls to resign over the district’s financial problems. After being placed on leave, Liggins sought reinstatement.

The back and forth between the state’s second-largest school district and Liggins has dragged out for more than a month as the two sides try to hammer out a deal.

Jones said Friday Liggins would drop his request to be reinstated and drop other claims against the board, including a complaint to the Kentucky Attorney General’s office alleging the school board violated the state open meeting law when it put him on leave.

Jones said Friday the amount Liggins would receive from settlement was still to be determined.

Liggins’ base salary in 2024-25 was $350,000, according to documents obtained through the Kentucky Open Records Act.

The Fayette County Board of Education had previously rejected proposals from Liggins that included a demand for payment exceeding the three remaining years of his current contract, school board Chair Tyler Murphy told the Herald-Leader Friday night. Board member Amanda Ferguson made similar comments in a Facebook post.

Murphy would not provide the amount Liggins was previously asking for, and did not comment further Friday night aside from saying an agreement actually had not been reached.

Jones previously told the Herald-Leader that four efforts to reach a settlement with FCPS fell short.

The Fayette County Board of Education’s Finance and Accountability Committee, created to restore confidence in the controversy-plagued district, had urged the Fayette County Board of Education Wednesday to move quickly to settle the employment dispute with Liggins.

The district is in the midst of several 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. More cuts are anticipated because officials anticipate that the current budget year will end in a shortfall.

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. FCPS has not said if that dispute was the reason for the paid leave.

Liggins been Superintendent of Fayette County Public Schools since 2021, leading Kentucky’s second-largest school district, with approximately 42,000 students, 8,000 employees, and 70 campuses. He was named 2026 Kentucky Superintendent of the Year.