Fayette County Public Schools’ financial procedures lacked checks and balances, independent review and, at times, board approval for budget changes, according to findings of an outside audit ordered into the district’s financial turmoil.
Results of the investigation by firm Weaver and Tidwell LLP were released Monday evening during a Fayette County Board of Education planning meeting at the John D. Price building in Lexington.
The review, which looked at financial policies, the budget process and expense management from 2023 to 2025, provides the latest look at what caused the district’s financial crisis, first uncovered during the 2024-25 school year.
“This is a crucial step, but it’s not a finality,” board chairman Tyler Murphy said of the findings. “...This really has to be a roadmap for us to move forward.”
Among the failures identified, access and independent approval of finances were often “concentrated in a few roles” in FCPS, according to the audit’s summary, and at times, the same individual would create and approve changes.
The audit found nearly 94% of budget entries in fiscal year 2025 used the same user ID to enter and post without secondary approval.
A better segregation of duties is needed to ensure no one person has “too much power” or control over FCPS budget processes, Weaver CPA Holly Hart told the board.
Audited samples of purchase card uses turned up “unexplained” reimbursements, misclassifications of expenses and a lack of approval and monitoring, Hart said.
In addition, the audit found the district lacks an accounting handbook, a document that would lay out procedures, and travel policies for FCPS staff have not been revised since 2013.
“The district itself needs very specific instructions or management for the people, the boots on the ground that are doing the work really to be able to execute on these tasks consistently through the entire budget cycle,” Hart noted.
A separate audit, released earlier this year, found Superintendent Demetrus Liggins — who has been on paid leave since June — did not provide proper oversight and failed to follow multiple policies.
Weaver’s auditing on the oversight side found significant budget amendments and transfers went before the school board for “information only.”
“The Board and public receive incomplete or inaccurate information, weakening oversight and decision-making,” a summary reads.
Officials with Weaver offered only a general overview of findings Monday, and did not include names or roles tied to any of the accounting or oversight weaknesses identified. Some issues, but not all, should have been flagged in annual external audits, officials said.
Several key staff changes in FCPS top management and finance have occurred since budget issues were uncovered, including the retirements of district financial director Rodney Jackson and deputy superintendent Houston Barber, and the hiring of Kyna Koch as interim chief financial officer.
The district has not confirmed any of the staff changes are tied to the financial mismanagement, and Barber and Jackson have said their departures are not tied to FCPS’ budget woes.
“The most important element, I think, in all of this, is we need a detailed corrective action plan that’s presented to the board and that’s shared with the community,” Murphy said Monday of the audit’s findings.
As part of the review, Weaver laid out an 18-month recommended action plan for the district to shore up accounting and budget problems. FCPS officials have said the 2026-27 budget is short around $10.8 million.
Weaver is expected to deliver its final, written report this week.
