Interim chief financial officer Kyna Koch presented the contract addendum to the board requesting the additional money, which will allow for about 100 hours of audit work from Weaver and Tidwell LLP. The original contract with the firm, which was secured following revelations of years of financial mismanagement in Fayette County Public Schools, cost $121,000.
The additional cost will be included in the fiscal year 2027 budget, though board chair Tyler Murphy asked where the beleaguered school district would find the funds.
“We will have to find, within our budget, $35,000 from someplace else that we will reduce to take care of this,” Koch said.
Murphy and board members Penny Christian and Amy Green voted in favor of extending the contract, while Monica Mundy and Amanda Ferguson voted no.
FCPS approved the external audit by Weaver and Tidwell in December after a $16 million budget shortfall eventually revealed deeper financial woes.
Investigations have found Superintendent Demetrus Liggins violated school board policy and did not properly oversee the district’s funds. In response to budget needs, FCPS laid off more than 100 staff members and cut working days. To balance the budget, the district will use its contingency fund for things like bills and payroll. Next year’s balanced budget requires a $95 million loan.
Tuesday, Koch said district staff has not found the extra $35,000 in audit money yet.
“It will not affect the schools,” Koch said. “That's the one thing that is just a solid no in this district.”
Acting Superintendent Bill Bradford said FCPS will apply its financial resources as needed to cover the investigations, however.
“This was authorized by our Board of Education, it was recommended by our audit committee, and it was quite frankly demanded by the community,” Bradford said. “So we want to make sure that we have an audit report that is verifiable and that we can utilize to help us to be better with processes, to be better with policies, and to be better with spending and budgeting, and moving forward.”
During fiscal year 2026, FCPS budgeted $135,000 for annual audits, a routine process. The Weaver and Tidwell audit was an unexpected cost.
The school board also hired Ashland-based VanAntwerp Attorneys to investigate claims Liggins had violated the district policy in handling the contingency fund. That investigation cost the district $37,825.80 this fiscal year.
FCPS will also have to pay for one being conducted by State Auditor Allison Ball, but it has not received an estimate of that cost yet.
The regular annual audits, the Weaver & Tidwell audit and the VanAntwerp Attorney investigation total more than $340,000 spent on unraveling the financial mismanagement and overseeing spending.
For the coming fiscal year, the district has budgeted about $350,000 for audits, which does not include the $35,000 addendum to Weaver and Tidwell’s contract.
