FCPS Board of Education and Budget and Finance Committee members confer in the board room at the John D. Price building about the 2026 tentative budget. Taken February 27th, 2025.
On February 27th, the Fayette County Public School’s John D. Price Administration Building boardroom was alive with live news broadcasts, as well as concerned parents and teachers. FCPS Board of Education and Budget and Finance Committee members exchanged greetings, prepared their talking points, and readied themselves for a long afternoon ahead.
This special school board meeting, aptly titled “Budget Workshop,” had one main issue on the agenda: inputting information to form the tentative budget for the FCPS 2026 fiscal year. Due to last year’s House Bill 6, all Kentucky schools must present separate draft, tentative, and working budgets. The tentative budget, the second phase of budget appropriations for the district, can only be decided on by the Board of Education in May. However, their decisions are informed by the Budget and Finance Committee, which “...reviews and provides input on the district's budget and related financial matters,” according to the FCPS website.
For almost four hours, committee members presented various factors that could impact funding allocations, from the fall of Fayette County birth rates to the previous year’s food and nutrition services cost. They shared the impacts of recently developed programs, what has and hasn’t been working, and what funding would be needed to maintain those that have.
But amid discussion of budgeting concerns, the uncertainty of the federal government loomed.
Soon after he was inaugurated, President Trump ordered a freeze on federal funding, including loans and grants, in an attempt to prevent funding to programs that don’t align with the president’s administration. A federal judge has put a block on the freeze, allowing federal funding to continue being allocated.
Alongside the potential cuts in federal funding, a greater fear lies ahead: the potential disbandment of the Department of Education. Pushed by the DOE’s own Secretary Linda McMahon, President Trump intends to sign an executive order dismantling the federal department to put more power in the hands of state education departments without the checks of a federal entity.
These two possibilities put the future of national public education at risk. Without the necessary funding that the federal government provides and the DOE, unprecedented changes could hit school districts hard. But what could this mean for the second-largest school district in the Bluegrass state?
Fayette County Public Schools currently serves over forty-one thousand students from Pre-K to 12th grade, with over 60 facilities spread out in the Lexington metro area. With the recent shift in leadership through Superintendent Demetrius Liggins, FCPS has emphasized student achievement by investing in various district-wide programming highlighted at the recent budget workshop.
“What we're doing and what we've done for the last four years is making a difference, and so the board appears to be committed to continuing many of those things that have been impactful,” said Liggins after the board meeting.
In the 2023-2024 school year, they piloted the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, a multifaceted instructional approach to ensure students are college and career-ready. The program has reaped rewards, with AVID participants enrolling in more rigorous courses, such as A.P. and Dual Credit courses that have been expanded on during the past year.
During the meeting, board members cited a recent effort to improve the Freshman and Senior College and Career Fairs, district-wide field trips for secondary students to learn more about potential pathways, and meet with college and industry representatives to answer questions and connect. These opportunities help 9th graders find a track to pursue during their high school careers and assist 12th graders with making connections within local industries after graduation.
Not only that, but the district will be opening two new facilities in the Fall of 2025, The HILL and Mary E. Britton Middle School. The HILL will combine two FCPS Career Technical Education (CTE) centers into one, providing education for students interested in a variety of trades. Mary E. Britton will teach over 1,200 sixth to eighth-grade students, easing the burden on other growing FCPS middle schools.
Student success would not be assured without the assistance of teachers and administration. FCPS has prioritized teacher retention and education within Lexington through programs like Aspiring Leadership, preparing educators for leadership positions through education and mentorships. The Grow Your Own and TeachLex initiatives have also provided education pathways for current FCPS students, aiming to keep Lexington residents within Fayette County as educators.
These programs, and more spread throughout the district, are built to ensure student success, allowing all students to learn, grow, and have the tools for college, work, and beyond.
As Tyler Murphy, chair of the Fayette County School board, puts it, “[The] investments that we've made thus far have made meaningful, measurable impact. We've seen improvements in student achievement. We've seen improvements in teacher retention, right? And [a] 95% retention rating for teachers is something that you don't see in this current public education climate.”
But, it all requires funding and investment. Fayette County Public Schools funding depends on local taxes, state funding, and federal funding. Federal funding through the DOE and USDA makes up 16% of the district's total revenue, a whopping 142 million dollars in 2023, according to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. The district also receives almost 15 million dollars in Title I funding, supporting 48 schools with high rates of low-income students.
Outside the federal government, Fayette County receives funding through Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK), allocated by the Kentucky Department of Education. This formula-driven program allocates funds to public schools on a need basis throughout the state. For the 2025 fiscal year, the Fayette County district received 94 million dollars through SEEK.
However, for the 2026 fiscal year, there is an expected shortfall of 40.6 million dollars in funds for the entire state. This could potentially lower the amount of state aid Fayette County gets, spreading the remaining funding thin over the 171 school districts SEEK funds. This puts a larger importance on federal funding to support all Kentucky school districts, especially FCPS, which depends on SEEK to fund transportation and accessibility programs.
If federal funding were to be cut, programs focused on student achievement could be hit hard. Public schools must provide services like transportation and nutrition following Kentucky state law. This puts additional non-required programs on the back burner in case of a loss of funding, leaving the funds for initiatives focused on student success vulnerable to being allocated elsewhere. Student achievement programs could risk losing resources, from teachers leaving due to lower financial support to failing to upkeep building infrastructure.
In the end, it is the decision of the FCPS board on what programs get funded and by how much. However, when funds are limited, choosing between free and reduced lunches and mentorships is difficult.
But through uncertainty, FCPS promises to hold onto their goals for the district. Murphy added, “... there's a lot of unknowns, and that's what concerns me, gives me pause. No matter what the unknowns bring us, we will do what we can to the best of our ability to invest in kids, teachers, and staff.” He stated that the district is focused on maintaining its investments while keeping pace with inflation and the potential offset of federal loss.
Public education is in a time of uncertainty, with promises from the President and the DOE of “...[sending] education back to the states and [empowering] all parents to choose an excellent education for their children.” There is no doubt that Fayette County will undergo drastic changes, perhaps away from the goal of preparing students for life beyond primary and secondary education. Only time will tell.
