Kentucky school boards have a fundamental responsibility for financial oversight and stewardship, including approving budgets and managing all district funds and property.
The financial crisis facing Jefferson County Public Schools highlights a severe breakdown of this fiscal responsibility. The board says they were blindsided by a massive $188 million deficit. Some board members claim they were not informed of the impending need to sell assets to cover payroll, revealing a critical lapse in transparency and accountability.
Were they tricked, mislead or deceived by JCPS staff? Probably, and that's a big problem that needs to be addressed immediately. But the board still has a fiduciary responsibility to read a balance sheet and understand what's going on.
This fiscal irresponsibility stemmed from unchecked reliance on temporary federal COVID-19 relief funds. When this funding ended, the district failed to curb spending on new positions and initiatives which were financed by one-time money. Back on May 20, I did a Point of View on this topic, so this isn't new to them.
What scares me is this entire bunch of finger-pointers, who are blaming everyone but themselves, have the unilateral power to raise Jefferson County property taxes by 4% to sweep away their failure. I say leave tax increases alone and then try really, really hard to somehow squeak by on your $2.3 billion budget.
I'm Bill Lamb, and that's my Point of View.
