The students and teachers of Fayette County are doing their jobs. It is long past time that the adults in charge of the district did theirs.
Our 7-year-old attends Glendover Elementary and it is an AWESOME school. The principal (Ben VanderHorst, who could be out of central casting for the sweetest, most caring principal), the teachers (most recently my son had Jennifer Russell, who should win teacher of the year), the staff, every one of them is a 10 out of 10, and on most days a 100 out of 10. And it is not alone. Fayette County’s four-year graduation rate reached an all-time high of 92.4% last year, our students continue to outperform the state average at every grade level, and our postsecondary readiness rate climbed from 77.5% to 82.2% in a single year. By the measures that actually matter to children, FCPS is doing a good job.
That is exactly why the circus at the top is so hard to watch. Superintendent Demetrus Liggins, a person with a Ph.D. who has spent his life dedicated towards improving children’s educational outcomes, has recently engaged his second law firm to demand, on a four-day deadline, that he be reinstated, while reserving contract, defamation, civil-rights, and tort claims. All of this is unfolding against a reported $16 million shortfall, more than $2.5 million in administrator credit-card spending over six months, a $38,000 failed tax campaign, and a whistleblower lawsuit alleging the board was not told the truth about the district’s finances…