FCPS Confirms Longtime Finance Chief Is on Medical Leave During Financial Crisis

The confirmation adds a new question for Fayette County families and taxpayers: who is responsible for the district’s financial records, contracts, grants, and budget corrections now?

Jun 11, 2026

Fayette County Public Schools is facing new finance-office questions after confirming that longtime finance official Rodney Jackson is on medical leave during the district’s financial repair effort. Fayette County Board of Education / Public Domain, via Louisville Public Media.

Fayette County Public Schools confirmed this week that Rodney Jackson, the district’s longtime executive director of financial accounting, is on medical leave.

The confirmation came from district spokeswoman Miranda Scully after months of questions about Jackson’s absence from Fayette County Board of Education meetings. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported June 11 that Jackson has not attended or spoken at board meetings since March, according to board documents.

The leave itself is a personnel matter.

Medical details should remain private. The public issue is the finance office Jackson helped lead for years, and whether the Fayette County Board of Education, acting superintendent, interim chief financial officer, outside reviewers, and state auditor can clearly explain who now controls FCPS financial reporting, contract review, grant compliance, and budget corrections.

That question has practical weight. FCPS is managing an $880.5 million tentative budget, a reported $95 million short-term loan, district-level job cuts, work calendar reductions, outside financial reviews, a state auditor examination, and public statements that district finances were misstated for years.

The Confirmation and What It Does Not Answer

On June 11, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that FCPS confirmed Rodney Jackson is on medical leave. Jackson has worked for FCPS since 1999 and has held finance leadership roles for more than a decade, according to the Herald-Leader’s review of his personnel file.

The same report said the Herald-Leader requested Jackson’s personnel file and correspondence regarding notice of leave under the Kentucky Open Records Act. The personnel file contained no leave-related documents, and FCPS denied correspondence related to leave, saying release would violate federal labor and health-care protections.

That denial does not automatically mean FCPS acted improperly. Personnel and medical information can be legally protected. But the district can still answer public governance questions that do not require disclosure of medical information: when Jackson’s finance duties changed, who assumed those duties, which office now signs off on contracts, who manages grant deadlines, and who prepares board financial reports.

Jackson’s leave was confirmed one day after the Fayette County Board of Education placed Superintendent Demetrus Liggins on paid administrative leave and appointed Assistant Superintendent Bill Bradford acting superintendent. Taken together, those developments place FCPS in a leadership transition as the district attempts to repair serious financial problems.

The confirmed new development is limited. FCPS confirmed Jackson is on medical leave. The broader public issue is not a diagnosis or a personnel dispute. It is whether the district has clear financial controls while multiple people connected to finance and administration are absent, reassigned, on leave, or under review.

Who Controls School-District Finances in Kentucky

Kentucky law gives the Fayette County Board of Education authority over district spending, budgets, contracts, and policy. KRS 160.160 gives local boards management and control over school districts, including the authority to enter into contracts and take lawful actions necessary to carry out school purposes.

KRS 160.370 describes the superintendent as the executive agent of the board. The superintendent is responsible for carrying out board policies and managing district business affairs, subject to board control.

That means the board is not a passive recipient of finance-office information. The elected board approves budgets, acts on contracts, reviews financial reports, and must ask enough questions to make lawful spending decisions.

The finance office implements much of that work. It prepares reports, supports budget planning, handles accounting practices, manages account coding, tracks revenues and expenditures, supports purchasing controls, and helps the board understand the numbers used for public decisions.

Jackson’s prior role is documented in FCPS’s own Board Finance & Accountability Committee materials. At the committee’s Feb. 18 meeting, FCPS identified him as executive director of Financial Accounting, Budget, & Benefits Services, and he reviewed the district’s monthly finance report.

FCPS also hired Kyna Koch as interim chief financial officer in March 2026. The district’s Financial Oversight page lists Koch’s hiring as a major step in the district’s 2026-27 budget timeline. Koch has since publicly presented financial findings, discussed budget corrections, and addressed contract and accounting issues.

That division of responsibility now needs to be plain. If one finance leader is on medical leave and the superintendent is on paid administrative leave, residents should be able to see who is responsible for financial reporting, grant compliance, purchasing reviews, accounts payable, cash flow forecasting, and budget restatements.

The Money Questions Behind the Leave Confirmation

FCPS has already said its finances require correction. On April 23, Liggins said preliminary findings suggested that the district’s finances had been misstated for years, that multiple federal and state requirements may not have been followed, and that accounting procedures may not have aligned with acceptable practices.

That statement came before the board placed Liggins on paid leave. It also came before FCPS publicly confirmed Jackson’s medical leave. The district’s own statement makes the finance office question more urgent, not less.

FCPS is also managing a large public budget. The Fayette County Board of Education approved an $880.5 million FY27 tentative budget. The district has said the budget includes a 2 percent minimum contingency, with a return to 6 percent.

Local reporting has also described a reported short-term loan of up to $95 million. That borrowing was tied to cash flow while the district waits for property-tax revenue. Borrowing to keep operations stable may be lawful and necessary. Still, it requires a clear public explanation: the amount, the repayment source, the interest cost, and the reason the district reached that point.

The KEV SchoolCash contract provides a specific example of contract control for the public. The Herald-Leader reported in May that public records showed Jackson signed a two-year $204,475 contract with KEV for an online payment platform without board or superintendent approval.

According to that reporting, the contract covered $95,975 for the 2024-25 school year and $108,500 for the second year ending June 30, 2026. Koch said the contract was being paid from an instructional account even though it was not providing instructional services and was not properly accounted for through accounts payable and purchasing procedures.

That contract raises basic governance questions. Who had the authority to sign? Was the contract bid? Why was it paid from that account? Which FCPS office reviewed the coding? When did the board learn the contract had not been approved? Has the vendor been paid? Will the service continue after June 30?

Jackson’s medical information should remain private. The KEV contract is a public-money issue, and FCPS can answer it through contract files, purchase orders, payment records, account codes, board agenda records, and a clear explanation of who approved the agreement.

How FCPS Financial Decisions Impact Families, Workers, and Taxpayers

Fayette County Public Schools is a Kentucky public school district governed by Kentucky law, an elected local board, public records rules, state audit authority, and district purchasing procedures. The district serves Lexington families, employs public workers, contracts with vendors, and spends public money.

Bad financial numbers can shape real board decisions: which positions are cut, which contracts are approved, how much the district borrows, and what resources schools receive.

It can affect staffing levels, employee work calendars, school budgets, vendor payments, grant compliance, program planning, and the board’s ability to make lawful decisions.

FCPS has already announced work calendar reductions for several employee groups and reductions in district-level positions. The district said those changes were part of its 2026-27 financial decisions and would take effect July 1.

For employees, those decisions can mean fewer paid days, changed assignments, eliminated positions, or heavier workloads. For families, the concern is whether budget corrections affect the services their children depend on. For taxpayers, the concern is whether the board has reliable information before approving budgets, contracts, borrowing, and spending cuts.

Kentucky is also implicated through state-level review. The Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts, led by Auditor Allison Ball, announced a special examination of FCPS in 2025. The Kentucky Attorney General’s office also issued an opinion in 2025, finding that the FCPS Board’s occupational license tax vote failed to meet public notice requirements.

Those state-level actions do not replace local board responsibility. They make the public record more important. FCPS residents need to be able to compare district statements, board votes, audit findings, contract files, and finance reports.

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Documents You Can Request Next

Request the current finance office organization chart. Ask FCPS to identify who currently handles accounting, budget reporting, grants, accounts payable, procurement review, contract coding, cash flow forecasting, and board financial reports.

Request the KEV SchoolCash contract file. Ask for the signed contract, bid documents, or sole-source justification, purchase orders, invoices, payment history, account codes, approval chain, renewal language, and any board agenda item connected to the contract.

Request the FCPS open-records denial letter regarding leave correspondence. Readers do not need medical information. They can still review the legal exemptions FCPS cited and determine whether non-medical governance records should be released.

Track the FY25 and FY26 financial restatements. Ask which reports will be corrected, who will sign them, when the board will receive them, and how the corrected figures change prior board decisions.

Read the Weaver and Tidwell contract and reports. Ask for the scope of work, contract amount, invoices, deliverables, completed reports, and timeline for any remaining work.

Follow the Kentucky Auditor’s special examination. Ask when the examination will be released, whether FCPS has provided all requested records, and how the board will respond to any findings.

Attend Fayette County Board of Education meetings. Watch for agenda items on budget corrections, short-term borrowing, contract approvals, finance-office staffing, grant deadlines, and outside-review reports.

Ask board members for a written corrective-action tracker. The public should be able to see each identified financial problem, the office responsible for fixing it, the deadline, the public document verifying completion, and the next board vote required.

The public record should now answer a basic operational question: Who is in charge of FCPS financial controls while the district corrects its books?

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