Fayette Schools documents show $17.8M budget deficit, but it’s ‘not final’

Fayette County Public Schools is projecting a $17.8 million budget shortfall, but school officials cautioned Saturday that number could change as the district works through financial irregularities going back several years.

Budget documents included in the July 20 Fayette County Board of Education agenda for June show a deficit of $17,775,254.88 for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

A more thorough report on the district’s finances will be shared during the July 20 meeting, said Miranda Scully, a spokeswoman for the district. Scully emphasized the amount of the deficit is not final.

“While the figures in the agenda documents were accurate for the specific day the report was run, they are not final,” Scully said. “This is part of our annual routine process in which the final balance will be presented in September. We will continue to share factual information through the appropriate channels.”

The budget shortfall is not a surprise. School finance officers for the district reported during a July 8 Fayette County School Board Finance and Accountability committee meeting that a prior-year deficit would mean more cuts to this year’s tentative budget.

Interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch has also said the extent of the current-year shortfall likely won’t be known until September, after the district’s bills have been paid and all tax revenues are collected. It takes roughly 60 days to close out the books, she said.

The district announced earlier this year it had discovered its finances have been misstated for decades. It has conducted or is in the process of completing audits to determine what went wrong and how to right the district’s finances.

The district has already made cuts to the current-year budget.

In May, the board approved a tentative $711.3 million general fund budget. That budget included more than $20 million in cuts, the elimination of 120 positions and cuts to staff work days. In addition, the board has already approved a $95 million short-term loan to help it pay bills before tax collections hit the district’s accounts this fall.

Koch asked the Finance and Accountability Committee to help it examine the districts’ finances to find other places to cut. That meeting is scheduled for August.

This story was originally published July 18, 2026 at 11:34 AM.