On April 23, Fayette County Public Schools announced that district leaders discovered misreported finances going back to at least 2008, which is as far back as digital financial records were kept for the school district. Superintendent Demetrus Liggins has received criticism for his management of the finances and said he plans to be more involved in decisions.
At Monday night’s board meeting, Interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch gave a financial update to the board. She said though she’s worked with FCPS before, this time she’s been given more information and had deeper access to files.
“We have gotten closer in nine months to discovering, addressing and correcting longstanding problems than we have ever been before,” Koch said.
She said issues have been found in the four processes she’s reviewing: how the district takes in taxes and other revenue, how the district pays bills, how the district keeps records and how the district shares the information.
“We've seen a pattern of money being moved from one account to another to cover expenses,” Koch said. “The money is not missing, but it's not being spent on the things it was intended to and it may not be coded in the correct accounts.”
Koch identified that as a problem because a lot of district money is for dedicated purposes.
Revenue has also been lost due to missed deadlines for federal grant reimbursements. She said she did not have confidence in the February and March reports board members were receiving that night and her goal was for the April report to be accurate.
FCPS is expected to need a loan to address cashflow for the next school year. Koch called it a tax revenue anticipation note and said other school districts have used these loans before.
All these financial issues culminate in FCPS announcing reductions in work days and district staff. FCPS employees such as librarians, people who work all 12 months of the year, child nutrition specialists and others will see a reduction in workdays and pay.
District level staff will be cut through reductions in force, position eliminations and involuntary transfers. The amount of teachers and para-educators will not be reduced at schools, but some teachers may lose their position for district staff with job rights that have to be respected.
The district does not have the number of positions that will be eliminated yet, Liggins said on Tuesday.
At the media briefing, Liggins said he would work five days less in the year and receive the related reduced pay as part of these changes.
“I'm totally committed to ensuring that we are fixing any financial issues we have, once and for all, and to ensure that we are building on a solid foundation and are on good footing,” Liggins said. “At that point, those were some of the decisions that had to be made.”
These reduction decisions will be decided by May 15 and staff will be notified if they are affected before then.
Koch recommended that FCPS change auditors every four years in future. While that likely wouldn’t be the cheapest option, it would be beneficial because it would allow new eyes on the district’s finances.
Monday night’s meeting included time for public comment. Among those who made comments were FCPS librarians who will face workday cuts as a part of the efforts to correct the district’s finances. Lindsey Depenbrock, a librarian at Maxwell Elementary, asked the board to not let cuts affect librarians.
“You have the power to ask specifically about librarians’ pay cuts, and you have the power to vote no on a budget that does not fully value our library system, our library staff, and how it will impact our students,” Depenbrock said. “A comment was made that these cuts do not directly impact student instruction. Whoever made this comment did not speak with a librarian before making it. These cuts will impact student instruction.”
Amanda Hurley, also a librarian at Bryan Station High School, said she did not feel like part of the team after receiving an email with the news.
“From my perspective, your calendar reduction committee did not actually conduct a true analysis, wasn't part of a team, didn't ask for feedback,” Hurley said. “If you look at their spreadsheets, they have certain categories that have pros for their recommendations and not one con listed for any of the reductions.”
Hurley made some recommendations to the board members about what else could be done to the budget other than take days from librarians.
Barbara Priest, president of the Fayette County Educational Support Professionals Association, said employees and taxpayers are owed an apology for the financial situation.
“When the budget is mismanaged, it is our employees who pay the ultimate price through position cuts, reduced resources and increased workloads,” Priest said. “Often, this heavy burden will fall directly on the shoulders of our classified staff, the very individuals who are already giving everything we have to support our students and our schools.”
Others spoke on the state of Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School, which needs improvements and repairs, and their frustrations with the handling of the budget situation.
The next action meeting will be on May 21.