The long awaited state audit of the Fayette County Schools finances will be released tomorrow morning.
An investigation into the district’s finances began last May at the request of Fayette County Schools Superintendent Tom Shelton. The request came after the District’s Director of Budget and Staffing claimed that a then $20 million budget shortfall was the result of mismanagement, fraud, waste and abuse of authority. State Auditor Adam Edelen and his staff have completed the audit and will release their findings Wednesday morning at 10:30.
On Monday, parents and staff of the school system received an e-mail from Dr Shelton stating:
Dear FCPS Families:
We have received word that the Auditor of Public Accounts will release its examination of the budget, finance and accounting processes in the Fayette County Public Schools on Wednesday, September 17. As you may recall, we asked the auditor to come into our district last May to investigate allegations that the timing of routine accounting procedures had caused the district to need to reduce our budget.
When the audit is released this week, we expect the report will reassure our community that all public funds are accounted for and that there was no illegal activity, while also pointing to concrete areas for improvement in our budget and finance processes.
Please be assured that we will take any and all findings of the auditor seriously and will take swift action to implement recommendations for improvement. We will send a more detailed communication to you on Wednesday after the findings have been made public.
We are ready to put these allegations to rest and begin the process of regaining public trust and confidence as we refocus our entire district on our core mission of serving students. Thank you for your continued support of the Fayette County Public Schools!
Sincerely,
Tom Shelton, PhD
Superintendent
Fayette County Public Schools