$46 thousand in journey on FCPS board agenda, days after spending restrict introduced

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Just days after FCPS Superintendent Dr. Demetrus Liggins introduced the district would restrict spending on worker journey, the board will probably be requested to approve $46,000 in journeys.

In an electronic mail to FCPS dad and mom and employees Friday evening, Dr. Liggins outlined new steps the district would take to handle the $16 million finances shortfall.

Dr. Liggins revealed that the district will:

• Reassign the Financial, Accounting, Budget, and Benefits Services division to report on to me as superintendent.
• Implement a compulsory maintain on filling any district workplace vacancies.
• Limit all out-of-state or in a single day skilled improvement journey funded by the overall fund to necessary functions solely.
• Pause all upkeep initiatives except they’re straight associated to well being or security wants.
• Hire retirees just for substitute instructing roles.
• Provide month-to-month public updates to maintain the neighborhood knowledgeable.
• Launch an inside overview of each present and previous monetary procedures to make sure finest practices.

The announcement got here simply in the future after a WKYT Investigates report revealed the district’s contingency fund is projected to be as much as $20 million lower than deliberate.

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FCPS had repeatedly acknowledged subsequent 12 months’s contingency fund was projected to be simply shy of $42 million.

However, WKYT Investigates obtained an electronic mail Liggins despatched to board members earlier this week. In it, he stated inside calculations venture the contingency fund will probably be within the vary of $15-22 million.

While limiting journey was amongst Liggins’ listed adjustments, the agenda for Monday evening’s board assembly says the board will probably be requested to approve $46,747 in skilled go away.

[SEE FULL LIST OF PROFESSIONAL LEAVE BELOW]

Dr. Liggins stated all out-of-state or in a single day skilled improvement journey funded by the overall fund will probably be restricted to “mandatory purposes only.” It’s unclear what the district considers necessary.

Of the $46,747 price of journeys on the assembly agenda, $28,187 would come from the overall fund.

All of these journeys are in a single day, and a number of other are out-of-state.

[SEE COST BREAKDOWN BELOW]

Reimbursement Funding Source	Estimated Current Agenda	Estimated Year-to-Date
Employee Self-Funded	$ –	$ –
General Fund	$28,187	$54,239
Outside Third-Party Source	$5,353	$11,620
School Funds	$174	$6,029
Grants	$13,033	$42,725
TOTALS	$46,747	$114,613

[Data courtesy FCPS Board Meeting Agenda Item Executive Summary]

The journeys embody a $2,845 journey to Texas for the district’s chief authorized officer, sending two workers to a convention in Charlotte for $3,009 every, and a $1,370 three-day journey to Louisville for the district’s meals service coordinator.

There’s additionally a visit to an inside audit convention in Charlotte for 2 of the district’s inside auditors. It would value a complete of $4,500.

In July, WKYT’s Samantha Valentino sat down with Dr. Liggins to ask him concerning the district’s finances, together with spending on journey.

Since saying the $16 million finances deficit in May, the board has accredited not less than three journeys for Liggins, together with 30 directors.

“Can you justify the spending that is going to these trips for people? Because, I know for parents, that is a concern. They don’t understand why we’re spending so much money on these trips,” Samantha requested Dr. Liggins in July.

“Absolutely, because they’re not trips. They’re professional learning experiences,” Dr. Liggins responded. “I feel that administrators deserve to grow and learn and have a responsibility to do so. Just as much as teachers, just as much as a custodian, just as much as a cafeteria worker or anyone else that is doing a job for Fayette County Public Schools.”

The listing {of professional} go away requests up for approval Monday evening features a column for every journey’s function. They’re damaged down into 4 classes. The listed functions for journeys of the identical class are similar.

In his electronic mail to households and employees Friday evening, Liggins wrote, “In the past, we have failed to communicate budget and finance information in real time, and I have publicly pledged to do better going forward.”

WKYT reached out to FCPS Thursday to ask a number of questions concerning the contingency fund, together with when the district realized it will be as much as $20 million lower than initially anticipated.

As of this story’s publishing, the district has but to reply to WKYT’s questions.

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