What to know about candidates’ priorities in Fayette school board District 4 race

In the race for the District 4 Fayette County Public Schools board seat, incumbent Stephanie Aschmann Spires, a former chairwoman, faces former school board member Amanda Ferguson and public school advocate Matthew Vied.

District 4 includes parts of downtown and the Tates Creek Road corridor.

Spires has been on the board since 2017, serving as board chair from August 2018 to January 2021.

One challenge she sees if re-elected is fixing a divided board.

“The board is not a team right now and members are not listening to each other and as a result, factions are beginning outside the board and in the community. This is the first time in my tenure on the board that I remember schools and districts really competing for funding and services,” said Spires.

One of Ferguson’s main goals, if she returns to the school board, is to strengthen collaboration between central office and the schools, including valuing teachers and staff and supporting the work they do.

“Too often I hear from teachers that they do not feel supported by administrators or that they aren’t provided with the tools and resources they need,” Ferguson said.

Vied said Fayette County Schools needs a school board that holds the district accountable for results in the classroom.

“The current School Board did not demand bold action when MAP testing results revealed devastating learning loss,” Vied said. “The current School Board did not demand bold action when FCPS internal data revealed heartbreaking increases in mental health contacts between students and staff. The current School Board did not demand transparency and accountability when the District requested an 11.3% increase in the property tax rate.”

Stephanie Spires

Spires said she is a mother of five kids, a small business owner and a community volunteer. In January 2021, Spires said she did not seek re-election as chairwoman after her term was completed because her family was preparing for the birth of her youngest son.

In addition to board chairwoman, Spires was the board representative on the Fayette County Public Schools Equity Council and a calendar committee. She has also served on several ad-hoc committees including most recently the committee over ESSER (federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funds.

Spires is also a past member of the Kentucky School Boards Association Board of Directors and has led trainings for board members from districts across Kentucky.

Spires said she was a former PTA President at The Hearing and Speech Center, and the Fundraising Chair and Project Manager for the Ashland Elementary playground rebuild, where she secured a $75,000 grant.

Spires worked to have playground replacement included into the annual budget for all Fayette County Elementary Schools on a cyclical basis. Spires said she has advocated and worked to ensure that all Fayette County Public School playgrounds are unlocked and accessible for children to play in after school hours.

Spires is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where she earned her B.A. in Secondary Education Social Studies and M.S. in Higher Education policy from the College of Education. Spires also has a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Kentucky and has a Family Life Coaching certificate from North Carolina State University.

“I have been successful in getting my board team to support projects like new HVAC systems for Morton, Henry Clay and other 4th District Schools, but there is still a lot of facility needs,” said Spires. “Henry Clay needs a new building to address security and overcrowding, as well as deficiencies in the current building.”

One goal is to see a planned career and technical center to fruition.

She wants to ensure programs are accessible to every child in Fayette County by making sure families are aware of the programs as well as removing barriers, such as transportation.

She wants to see a significant expansion of preschool offerings in Fayette County Public Schools.

She said one challenge for the district is funding, especially for renovations and building updating.

“We have a lot of facility needs and we do not have the funds to cover these needs, even with the current nickel proposal,” Spires said.

“We also need to look at our current inventory of schools and programs that are below capacity and make some decisions about the future of these programs,” she said.

An October 12 campaign finance report said her total receipts were $4,003.00; her total expenditures were $3,247.50 and the ending balance was $755.50.

Amanda Ferguson

Ferguson said from January 2007 to November 2016, she served as the District 4 member of the Fayette County Board of Education, and was elected vice-chair by fellow school board members.

In addition to attending dozens of regular and specially-called meetings, Ferguson said she served as the board’s legislative contact, which entailed testifying in Frankfort regarding issues that affect school districts and working with legislators.

“I also participated in a national school health initiative with other Kentucky board members and sought ways to improve the health and wellness of our students and staff,” Ferguson said.

Prior to her board service, Ferguson said she was involved with the school district for many years as a PTA member and officer, classroom volunteer, tutor, Junior Achievement instructor, academic team coach and booster club member.

After leaving the board, she said she served one-term as a parent member of the School Based Decision Making Council at Henry Clay High School, where she and all three of her children attended.

Another of her priorities is to increase communication and transparency of the district with the community.

“If the district wants citizens to continue to support the public schools, including property tax increases, it must do a better job of explaining the decisions the board makes and the reasons behind those decisions,” said Ferguson.

In addition, the board must prioritize the use of funding for facilities, including updating and improving the properties we currently have, not just building new ones and creating new programs that don’t have permanent homes, said Ferguson.

“We must strive harder to work together so that everyone benefits. Fayette County Public Schools are blessed with sufficient human and financial resources and we need to use them efficiently and effectively,” she said.

Ferguson has said she is running primarily for the same reason she served before: She cares about education in her community and believes public schools should be the best they can be for all students.

She has a B.A. in Psychology from University of Kentucky and an M.A. in Psychology from Vanderbilt University.

Ferguson does not have to file campaign finance reports because she has raised less than $3,000.

Matthew Vied

Vied lobbied for Fayette students to return to school during the COVID in-person shutdown.

“COVID happened and the board and district officials kept our schools closed far, far longer than I thought was wise and so I began persistently advocating for what I thought was best for kids,” Vied said previously in explaining why he is running.

Vied said he is an experienced sales leader for a national manufacturing company.

“I lead a team of accomplished sales executives and manage a sales budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars. I’ve participated in countless high stakes negotiations with the largest retailers in the country and am responsible for ensuring those critical relationships flourish,” Vied said.

He said his leadership experience, financial acumen and clear thinking on complex issues are needed on the Fayette Board of Education.

“With a projected budget of nearly a billion dollars, it is critical that the FCPS Board of Education has members with a proven skillset for managing an organization with such vast resources,” said Vied.

He said Fayette County Public Schools is too large of an organization with too large of a budget and too important of a mission to not have serious and professional oversight and direction from its Board of Education.

“I have consistently attended school board meetings to ask tough but necessary questions of the district and the board pertaining to learning loss, student mental health, barriers to effective learning environments and the district’s finances,” Vied said.

He wants to ensure that the school is leveraging its vast financial resources to get improved results in the classroom.

“Are test scores improving? Is COVID-related learning loss being reversed and restored? Are more students graduating ready for college, careers, and adulthood?,” said Vied.

Among the Fayette County school district’s challenges is getting its fiscal house in order, said Vied. With District revenues as high as they are, it is inexcusable that the District has so many unmet building needs.

It’s also vital that the district restore the learning loss incurred by students over the past two years, said Vied.

“COVID protocols that were sustained for far too long by the district created crippling barriers to effective learning environments and students suffered greatly because of it. It is the responsibility of FCPS to do the hard and necessary work of catching students back up,” Vied said.

Vied said he had a Secondary Math Education degree from the University of Kentucky and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Kentucky.

An October 12 campaign finance report showed a beginning balance of $44.12; Total Receipts: $2,265.18; Total Expenditures: $1,712.18 and Ending Balance: $597.12.

Amanda Ferguson

Age: 56

Work experience: Worked for several different nonprofits over the years, most recently as the executive director of Surgery on Sunday from 2017 until July 2022.

Previous offices held: Served as District 4 member of Fayette County Board of Education from January 2007 to November 2016.

Family: Husband, Todd Ferguson. Children, Jacob (24), Lucy (21) and Maggie (18). Daughter-in-law Jessica (24).

Stephanie Aschmann Spires

Age: 41

Work experience: Owner and Consultant of Stephanie Spires Strategies, LLC (dba Spires Strategies); previously Executive Director Arbor Youth Services and Executive Advisor to House Leadership (LRC).

Previous offices held: Fayette County School Board District 4

Family members: Children, Luke Spires (1); Onix Spires (8); Lauryn Spires (8); Mia Spires (9); and Raylee Spires (12).

Matthew Vied

Age: 37

Previous work: Iconex (current), Lexmark 7 years and 6.5 more at Iconex. Marketing, business development, sales and sales management.

Previous offices: None.

Family members: Wife, Madeline. Children, Charlotte (9) and Barrett (6).

This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 8:00 AM.