An examination of the second largest school district in Kentucky found long standing mismanagement of budget and finances.
Kentucky Auditor Adam Edelen Wednesday detailed findings about the audit of Fayette County Public Schools.
The state auditor's office launched the examination last spring after concerns about an alleged $20 million discrepancy in the budget. Edelen says that money was never missing and no criminal wrongdoing was uncovered. "Let me be clear, we found no evidence of criminal activity, however we did find chronic mismanagement of the district's budget and finances that have contributed to its financial instability," said Edelen.
Edelen says the audit revealed turf battles within the Lexington district administration and a complete lack of communication between budget and finance officers.
School superintendent Tom Shelton requested the state audit. Shelton says the district whole heartedly embraces the 48 recommendations from the auditor's office and will begin swiftly to implement modifications. As far as changing administrative personnel, Shelton says it's too early to make that kind of decision. 'We'll wait until we do the assessment and work with Ms. Koch to look at the structure of our organization and determine a full investigation of these issues before we make that determination," said Shelton.
Kyna Koch is a former finance worker with the state department of education. Koch will assist in overhauling the Fayette County School District's budget, finance, and staffing functions. "It's doable, but it's gonna take me some time and a considerable amount of effort to pull together all of the information that's out there and make solid recommendations that the district can use to move forward and stick with for a very long time," said Koch.
School board member Doug Barnett expressed frustration and disappointment with the audit's findings. "Yeah, it's a bad day for the kids of Fayette County. It's a bad day for the public. It's a bad day for the taxpayers. It's a bad day for the parents," said Barnett.
Board Chair John Price, meanwhile, expressed confidence that Shelton and administrators can make the necessary finance corrections. The Lexington school district has two months to formulate an improvement plan which goes back to the state auditor.?
