LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Just days after FCPS Superintendent Dr. Demetrus Liggins announced the district would limit spending on employee travel, the board will be asked to approve $46,000 in trips.
In an email to FCPS parents and staff Friday night, Dr. Liggins outlined new steps the district would take to address the $16 million budget shortfall.
Dr. Liggins revealed that the district will:
* Reassign the Financial, Accounting, Budget, and Benefits Services department to report directly to me as superintendent.
* Implement a mandatory hold on filling any district office vacancies.
* Limit all out-of-state or overnight professional development travel funded by the general fund to mandatory purposes only.
* Pause all maintenance projects unless they are directly related to health or safety needs.
* Hire retirees only for substitute teaching roles.
* Provide monthly public updates to keep the community informed.
* Launch an internal review of both current and past financial procedures to ensure best practices.
The announcement came just one day after a WKYT Investigates report revealed the district's contingency fund is projected to be up to $20 million less than planned.
FCPS had repeatedly stated next year's contingency fund was projected to be just shy of $42 million.
However, WKYT Investigates obtained an email Liggins sent to board members earlier this week. In it, he said internal calculations project the contingency fund will be in the range of $15-22 million.
While limiting travel was among Liggins' listed changes, the agenda for Monday night's board meeting says the board will be asked to approve $46,747 in professional leave.
[SEE FULL LIST OF PROFESSIONAL LEAVE BELOW]
Dr. Liggins said all out-of-state or overnight professional development travel funded by the general fund will be limited to "mandatory purposes only." It's unclear what the district considers mandatory.
Of the $46,747 worth of trips on the meeting agenda, $28,187 would come from the general fund.
All of those trips are overnight and several are out-of-state.
[SEE COST BREAKDOWN BELO
[Data courtesy FCPS Board Meeting Agenda Item Executive Summary]
The trips include a $2,845 trip to Texas for the district's chief legal officer, sending two employees to a conference in Charlotte for $3,009 each, and a $1,370 three-day trip to Louisville for the district's food service coordinator.
There's also a trip to an internal audit conference in Charlotte for two of the district's internal auditors. It would cost a total of $4,500.
In July, WKYT's Samantha Valentino sat down with Dr. Liggins to ask him about the district's budget, including spending on travel.
Since announcing the $16 million budget deficit in May, the board has approved at least three trips for Liggins, along with 30 administrators.
"Can you justify the spending that is going to these trips for people? Because, I know for parents, that is a concern. They don't understand why we're spending so much money on these trips," Samantha asked Dr. Liggins in July.
"Absolutely, because they're not trips. They're professional learning experiences," Dr. Liggins responded. "I feel that administrators deserve to grow and learn and have a responsibility to do so. Just as much as teachers, just as much as a custodian, just as much as a cafeteria worker or anyone else that is doing a job for Fayette County Public Schools."
The list of professional leave requests up for approval Monday night includes a column for each trip's purpose. They're broken down into four categories. The listed purposes for trips of the same category are identical.
In his email to families and staff Friday night, Liggins wrote, "In the past, we have failed to communicate budget and finance information in real time, and I have publicly pledged to do better going forward."
WKYT reached out to FCPS Thursday to ask several questions about the contingency fund, including when the district realized it would be up to $20 million less than originally anticipated.
As of this story's publishing, the district has yet to respond to WKYT's questions.