LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — A lawsuit claims that Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS) owes a contractor over $500,000 and has refused to pay the invoice since 2022.
HQE Systems, Inc., a California-based company specializing in electronic mass communication software, was contracted by FCPS in August 2021 to update its crisis management notification system. According to court documents, the 74-school project was reportedly funded by a Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant from the Department of Justice.
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The initial contract obtained by FOX 56 shows an agreement to pay $210,548 in exchange for HQE to provide a crisis management notification system for all its schools and reimburse HQE for expenses related to purchasing hardware needed for updates to the schools’ existing emergency management system. This contract was reportedly passed and agreed upon in a September 2021 meeting.
The district also received a reimbursement estimate totaling $508,694.83, which was subsequently approved per the lawsuit.
Then, in 2022, FCPS signed a second contract extending the agreement. Court documents show that all of the requested indoor speaker units and radio integration modules were delivered beginning in March 2022 and installed through August 2022 for all 74 schools.
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The second contract was signed by Superintendent Demetrus Liggins.
Around Aug. 26, 2022, after the equipment was installed, FCPS’s Department of Risk Management, Safety, and Security called HQE’s CEO, Quais Alkurdi, to notify him that the alert system was no longer wanted. The lawsuit states that the request came from Superintendent Liggins, who was named superintendent in July 2021, and HQE was asked to remove all its equipment from Fayette County schools.
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“At no point prior to this conversation did FCPS ever notify HQE—verbally, in writing, or otherwise—of any intent to terminate or cancel the August 2021 contract, the April 2022 contract, or the purchase order, or otherwise limit the materials and/or labor called for those documents,” Jordan White, of White & Eldemire, PLLC, wrote. “To date, FCPS has paid nothing to HQE for the goods provided and services rendered to FCPS. Yet, it has kept all the equipment that it ordered and received from HQE.”…