Board Buzz

We offer a recap of this month's planning meeting of the Fayette County Board of Education as part of our commitment to providing timely updates for students, families, staff, and the community.

During the Superintendent’s Report, the board celebrated the student whose artwork was selected for this year's FCPS holiday card: fifth grader Elena Duan, a visual arts major at SCAPA at Bluegrass. Her card features a snowy scene with six reindeer gathered around a plate of treats. In the contest, elementary school-level winners were submitted to the district, and the superintendent chose the winner. In addition to art, Elena enjoys reading, crafting, and origami. She also plays violin and piano and performs Chinese dancing. Outside of school, swimming is a favorite sport.

The board heard an overview of the Professional Learning Plan for FCPS staff, with a look-ahead to the 2025-26 cycle. The aim is to make sessions engaging, relevant, and impactful. Bill Bradford, assistant superintendent of School Leadership, spoke of how the focus areas align with our district's Strategic Plan and with the main goal of continuous improvement and increased student achievement. The next steps include assessing needs and identifying teacher leaders.

• View the Professional Learning Presentation

On the Horizon for Dec. 19 Action:

• An amendment to the 2025-26 instructional calendar is among the board's consent agenda items slated for action at the Dec. 19 regular meeting. If approved, the change would add two more professional learning days for staff to next year's calendar: Oct. 6 (the Monday after fall break) and April 13 (the Monday after spring break). Students would make up those class days on Nov. 4 and May 28. Staff input led to these proposed changes.
• Our Transportation Department proposes to transition over 200 bus monitors and bus drivers from 6- to 8-hour shifts for a 40-hour work week. This would help with recruitment and retention, cover over-scheduled hours, match leave to work obligations, and mitigate overtime. "We actually get more hours for a neutral amount of pay," Liggins explained as the board discussed the proposal. "It will be a positive for the operations of the system."

The Board Meeting Buzz is posted in the News feed on our district's homepage (FCPS.net). For more information about the latest meeting:

• Skim the Dec. 9 agenda or listen to the meeting (audio recording).
• Read the official minutes, which will be posted within the agenda of the next board meeting.

Members of the public may attend the school board's planning sessions and action meetings at the John D. Price Administration Building, 450 Park Place, where public comment is welcome. The monthly action meetings are also livestreamed on the FCPS YouTube channel and the district's Video on Demand service.

The video series “Murphy’s Minute” features Board Chair Tyler Murphy answering frequently asked questions about the school board’s role and responsibilities, service to the community, advocacy, and decisions that affect our students and schools. Students from several of our secondary schools host the series. Here is the latest episode: