Fayette County Public Schools will start the 2026-27 new school year with new leadership, including in key financial positions.
Key administrative and leadership changes have occurred since the discovery of a budget shortfall in the 2024-25 school year, including the district’s top post, now held by Acting Superintendent Bill Bradford.
Amid significant financial crisis that has left Kentucky’s second largest school system with a budget shortfall, using debt to pay bills and cutting more than 100 positions, the district is undergoing a special audit by firm Weaver and Tidwell LLP to identify the root of deep financial mismanagement believed to go back nearly two decades.
District officials hope to present the results of the audit at the August board meeting.
Who is in charge of finances at FCPS this school year?
In May, the district approved a tentative budget for the upcoming year that totals $880 million. That includes $17.6 million deficit, which officials have said will likely to shrink to between $5 and $10 million.
FCPS will not confirm any personnel changes directly due to the financial mismanagement and subsequent investigations, a spokesperson told WEKU, but several employees have left the finance department since 2025.
That office is now the Business Support Office. The most similar office is called Financial Accounting, Budget and Benefits Services in the 2025-26 organizational chart.
In the Office of Financial Services, part of the Business Support Office, there are 32 positions, as FCPS spokesperson told WEKU. In the Department of Financial Accounting & Benefits, part of the Financial Accounting, Budget and Benefits Services, there were more than 29 positions, according to the district's previous organizational chart.
Currently, Kyna Koch is interim chief financial officer for FCPS and leads the Business Support Office. She began in March and did not head the department prior to the financial crisis, but previously worked for the city of Lexington and has helped the district in the past.
When the budget issues started came to light, Rodney Jackson was the district financial director, leading Financial Accounting, Budget and Benefits Services under the direction of the former deputy superintendent.
Jackson recently announced his retirement after being on medical leave for several months. In mid-July, he said he intends to pursue legal action, claiming he played no role in the financial mismanagement.
Houston Barber was deputy superintendent. Barber started with the district in 2022 and announced his retirement in March this year. He officially retires in September.
He has said his retirement is not related to a report earlier this year that named him as one of people responsible for mistakes that led to the FCPS budget shortfall. According to the district’s salary database, Barber is listed as an “Admin on Special Assignment” with a salary of $213,091.55.
Koch’s annual salary in the FCPS database is listed as $157,844.28.
FCPS spokesperson Miranda Scully said a new position in the financial services department that combines two former associate directors has not yet been hired.
Koch manages day-to-day operations and budget. She is required to take major financial decisions, like large contracts and the overall budget, to the Fayette County Board of Education for approval. Her role is the lead of the district’s various financial departments.
Amy Smith is interim director of financial services, which leads the Department of Financial Services. She’s paid $174,098.50, according to the salary database. Her LinkedIn profile indicates she’s been with the district for more than four years.
Smith and Koch have been working to reorganize the finance department and “improve internal controls,” Scully wrote in an email.
Ann Sampson Grimes, the FPS budget director, returned from leave in September.
She was placed on that leave after the discovery of the initial budget shortfall, and has said the action was retaliation against her for alerting higher ups to budget issues. Grimes sued Liggins while on leave. According to the FCPS salary database, she is paid $113,741.17.
