Memo to FCPS board: You finally did something right. Keep doing that. | Opinion
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Fayette school board dropped a payroll tax vote after prior missteps drew backlash.
- Auditor launched fiscal probe following transparency failures and public distrust.
- Board formed task force to address shortfall; urged to engage community voices.
When I was a child and did something particularly witless, my mother would lovingly say: “Sometimes you don’t have the brains God gave an animal cracker.”
Where did this saying come from, you ask? What’s an animal cracker?*
But I thought of it when I saw the news the Fayette County school board had decided not to vote on a new, increased payroll tax. They did have more brains than an animal cracker, at least this time around. So thanks for making the right decision after far too many missteps.
Let’s hope it’s not too late to regain the public confidence this board has squandered away.
The nonsense has been slapped down by Attorney General Russell Coleman and most recently, spurred Auditor Allison Ball to do a special examination of the Fayette County schools. It’s a process that may or may not reveal a lot of issues, but will be akin to a “death from a thousand cuts,” taking away time and resources from educating our children.
If Fayette school officials had been more open to explaining their budget, say, last year, when this newspaper and many, many residents asked for it amid arts class cuts, they might not be in this mess.
Then we might understand exactly how we got to a $16 million shortfall, which is what led district officials to think it would be a swell idea to sneak in a provision to raise taxes without proper public notice. They said they were under a time crunch to submit a balanced budget, but that time crunch seems to have disappeared.
So, here are some possible ideas for moving forward:
▪ The board announced it convene a task force to determine how to solve the shortfall. Why not start with the budget committee you already have, then add parents, students and employees from every corner of the district? Look for folks who are engaged but without axes to grind. Then explain each and every step of how we got here. Explain it like we’re witless little animal crackers.
▪ Stop being defensive. School board Chairman Tyler Murphy needs to stop whining on about misinformation, given how much he’s put out there recently. One Facebook group does not an insurrection make, but it is enough to stir up a lot of consternation. Listen to people’s real concerns instead. If an open records request reveals the board paid $38,000 for ice cream, but it was paid for by a foundation, then explain that. Stop with the ridiculous travel expenses while you’re staring down a $16 million hole. You can’t keep getting more money every year without explaining better why you need it. I have a feeling Ball’s audit will reveal some new and better practices moving forward.
▪ Just do better. Think about optics. Grow thicker skins. Quit picking fights with your critics and the media. Most all of us want the same thing: Great public schools for our kids. These shenanigans play into the hands of people who are invested in public schools failing.
*Animal crackers are delicious, yet strangely flavorless cookies in the shape of circus animals that were sold in small boxes that looked like a Barnum & Bailey train car. The packaging plus the cookies were used to placate squalling children of the 1970s and 80s before there were iPhones. Unlike iPhones, the cookies don’t have brains, hence my mother’s saying. I have no idea where she got it from, and I can no longer ask her.
This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 1:52 PM.
