Fayette County Board of Education Chair Tyler Murphy said in a statement that a special meeting next Tuesday will include discussion of an external audit of the school district’s $827 million budget.
State auditor Allison Ball announced a review of her own earlier this summer amid a projected $16 million budget shortfall. Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Demetrus Liggins said an internal investigation is also ongoing.
“I'm now taking a much more direct involvement and direct oversight in the area of budget and finance, and in hindsight, I wish I had asked a lot more probing questions, gotten a lot more deeply involved and been a little bit more skeptical,” Liggins said.
During a Monday school board meeting, multiple community members called for an independent investigation.
“When has anyone ever investigated themselves and come back with, ‘It's completely our fault, and we will accept responsibility for it?’ If you want to restore faith, then have an independent investigation,” community member Bradley Hill said during a public comment period.
Potential contingency fund discrepancies
The move comes amid disputes over how much money is in the budget’s contingency fund, which includes money saved for emergency expenses. The school district calculated $26.3 million in this year’s fund.
But school board member Amanda Ferguson said that number is actually closer to $15.6 million.
“On the very end of the budget document, if you look at the total revenues from last year, fiscal year that just ended, and subtract the total expenditures from last year, the net is only $15,605,000,” Ferguson said.
That figure would be under the 2% required by state law to be saved in contingency funds. Ferguson said overspending in parts of the budget could account for the figure. The budget accounts for a general fund, special revenue fund, food service fund, building fund and capital outlay fund.
Other members of the school district said its $26.3 million calculation adheres to Kentucky Department of Education guidelines.
“Guidance from KDE since 1994 is that the calculated contingency is a percentage of the total expenditures in the general fund and the food service fund minus the on-behalf payments from the state, not all the five funds,” said Deputy Superintendent Houston Barber.
Monday’s board meeting was the first full discussion of this year’s budget, which looks to navigate the shortfall.
The school board’s special meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
