LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The proposed budget for the next Fayette County Public Schools fiscal year was presented Monday night, with a financial expert painting a dire picture for the district as it works through years of misstated finances by school district employees.
Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch previously shared that FCPS has had budget problems as early as 2008. The district is now in the process of what it calls "peeling back the onion."
"We continue to make adjustments on a daily basis that go back to 2025 and every adjustment that we make for 2025 affects fiscal year '26 and then affects what we're projecting for fiscal year '27, so we still have a lot of moving pieces," Koch said.
The district is proposing a tentative budget of more than $880 million for the next school year.
"We're confident that these numbers are good. I want to stress once again that I do not believe the board has received good information in the past," Koch said.
The board is also looking into outside help, including a loan the district says it cannot avoid.
"Can you please share with the community, we have to, we need to take this loan? We, we don't need to. We have to, we cannot make...the second payroll in July without this money," Koch said.
For fiscal year 2027, the district will see a 2-percent contingency — something Koch says she is not comfortable with.
"Truly for this district, 6% is probably not even enough," Koch said.
Teaching organizations are also sharing their skepticism with the numbers presented Monday night.
"This situation is much more dire than I even thought," Christy Cartner of the American Federation of Teachers said.
"The budget is contingent upon the sale of properties which haven't even been evaluated yet, you know, in terms of their value, it makes me nervous," Cartner said.
Dorian Hairston of the Fayette County Education Association also weighed in.
"I wish there was a fast forward button to get to the other side of this, um, so we can get back to as a Fayette County Public Schools graduate to that that vision and that image I had as a student and the reason why I'm employed here."
Monday's meeting also comes after the district's most recent announcement on cuts being made to district-level staffing. FCPS says those cuts are expected to save the district nearly $2 million.
