Bill change would add members with financial expertise to FCPS board, oust chair

A House education committee approved a revised bill on Wednesday that would add two appointed members with financial experience to the Fayette County school board.

Senate Bill 4, sponsored by Sen. Steve West, R-Paris, initially created a Kentucky principal leadership development program. But the substitute bill approved by the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee now says in large school districts — Jefferson County Public Schools and Fayette County Public Schools — there would be two members from the school district at large, with expertise in finance, appointed to the board by the state treasurer.

The other five school board members would remain elected positions. The bill has already passed out of the Senate and now goes before the full House of Representatives.

The changes to Senate Bill 4 would also mean that Fayette school board chairman Tyler Murphy could no longer serve on the board. The revised bill says a board of education member cannot work in a Kentucky school district more than 100 days per year. Murphy is a Boyle County school teacher.

Fayette County school officials have had significant fallout from a dwindling budget contingency fund and a failed attempted last year to increase the occupational tax that Kentucky’s Attorney General deemed illegal.

Lawmakers on Wednesday said both JCPS and FCPS have had financial problems. The Louisville school district is facing massive budget cuts with a deficit of $188 million, according to Louisville Public Media.

The bill would become effective upon its passage.

“It doesn’t make much sense that a bill claiming to strengthen school boards by adding individuals with certain ‘expertise’ would simultaneously ban those with classroom expertise from serving,” Murphy told the Herald-Leader in a text message Wednesday.

“At the end of the day, school boards exist for one purpose: student success,” Murphy said. “Teachers live that purpose every single day. We are on the front lines, understanding in real time how students learn, grow, and thrive. To suggest that this perspective is not valuable at the board table raises a fundamental question: if we are truly focused on student outcomes, why would we exclude the very voices most directly connected to them?”

Murphy’s term on the school board expires this year. He previously told the Herald-Leader that he intends to file for re-election, but he had not done so as of this week.

In another effort in the Kentucky General Assembly, a petition currently before the House impeachment committee seeks to remove Murphy from office, citing his alleged mishandling of the school district’s budget problems. Murphy has argued that effort is unconstitutional.

Fayette district spokesperson Miranda Scully said she didn’t have an immediate comment on the proposed bill.

This is a developing story and could be updated.

This story was originally published March 18, 2026 at 12:26 PM.