u/0033A0

>Fayette County Public Schools officials said Thursday they still do not have the amount the elimination of more than 100 positions will generate for the cash-strapped school district.

>“We don’t have that number right now,” said Jessica Williams, acting director of Budget and Financial Planning for the school district.

>However, the district’s proposed tentative $711 million general fund budget is based on those cuts, Williams said.

>Williams’ comments came during a Fayette County Public School budget question and answer session to respond to the public’s questions and concerns about the district’s financial operations.

>The event was held in partnership with the Board Finance and Accountability Committee, a standing committee of the Fayette County Board of Education that has met only a few times since it was created in January.

>“We recognize the conversations we are having are difficult and the realities our district is facing is heavy,” district spokesperson Miranda Scully said as the question and answer session closed.

>FCPS released details Tuesday on the 120 jobs it cut, consisting of 49 hourly and 71 salaried roles. Of the 71 salaried positions, 16 positions are administrators, district officials have said. In addition, various staff have had the number of days worked reduced. FCPS officials have previously said the reduction in work days will result in a $1.9 million savings.

>The district released its proposed tentative general fund budget of $711 million on May 11. During Thursday’s session, where people were permitted to submit written questions, FCPS also confirmed other cuts including a $250 classroom allowance for supplies typically given to teachers.

>Interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch said they hoped a community partner would be able to provide that funding for next school year but unfortunately a funder for those $250 classroom allowances. But a donor organization has not been found. The general fund does not have money for those annual allowances.

>Koch said there is additional money in the preliminary budget for auditing and legal fees. The budget for legal fees increased by more than $1 million, she said.

>However, there were two different contracts for investigations by law firms, one for $75,000 and a second for $52,000. Neither of those contracts were approved by the five-member board of education.

>Shelley Chatfield, chief legal officer for FCPS, said the costs for legal contracts can be difficult to predict. However, the school district has released a request for proposals, a type of bid, for legal services to avoid those type of costly contracts.

>It’s not clear why the board did sign off on the prior contracts.

>Changes to food budgets

>Another area that will get the axe is food and catering for staff. In 2025, the Lexington Herald-Leader found 135 administrators had racked up more than $2.5 million in credit card expenses in six months. Some of that money was spent on pricey dinners and lunches.

>“General funds will not be used for food for staff,” Koch said. “However, there are alternative sources that schools and the district in fact can use.”

>Koch said an independent auditor hired by the district should have results by late June or early July. That audit will help the district identify and make changes to budget processes to make sure the district’s finances are in order.

>District officials say finances have been misstated for decades. FCPS officials have said they plan to take out a short-term $110 million loan, which the district needs to make payroll come July 1. The district’s contingency fund balance is just 2%, the bare minimum under state law.

>Koch said how much the district will have to pay to take out that loan is still being negotiated.

>Koch also said it was likely the district will have to take out a similar one-time loan to help it with cash flow come the summer of 2027.

>In addition, the district is mulling the sale of various school properties including the former central administration building on Main Street and two elementary school campuses. Budget officials have previously said the district will need at least $3 million from the sale of those properties to balance its books for the upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1.

The next school board action meeting is Wednesday, May 27, at 6:00 p.m.

How long does it generally take for an uploaded version of an app to get moved to “In Review” status?

Barr over Cameron. Booker defeats McGrath. Alvarado wins the open KY-6 Republican nod. Dembo over Stevenson, Petrey, and Kloiber in a crowded Democratic field. Donworth squashes Palumbo in HD-76. Gorton and Carter set the mayoral stage for November.

What do you think the results say about what Fayette County voters are looking for? Any surprises among these or other races?

I’ve created an app intended solely for use within a subreddit I moderate, but it seems I can’t do this because we have over 200 followers. Do I need to make the app publicly accessible? Is that correct?

Sorry, I’m new to this and just confused by the approval/installation process.

>A Lexington woman, Kathy Schiflett, on Monday filed to run against embattled Fayette County Board of Education chair Tyler Murphy for the District 2 seat on the board, according to Fayette County Clerk election records.

>Schiflett worked 23 years for the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts before retiring in 2021, according to a news release announcing her candidacy. She said her work involved research, consulting, evaluation analysis, grant writing, program supervision and training, and she focused on supporting Kentucky’s youth.

>“I have decided to run for School Board, because like many Fayette County residents, I am deeply concerned about the management of Fayette County Public Schools,” Schiflett said in a news release Monday. “I believe wholeheartedly that together, through direct, clear, and honest back-and-forth exchanges, our School Board can make tough budgetary and operational decisions so that all of our public-school students can and will shine.”

>Schiflett said the current district leadership has failed to meet the community’s expectations, and believes that the finances of Fayette County Public Schools not only need to be better managed, but that when difficulties arise, these concerns need to shared in a transparent and timely manner.

>“We have to get back to what really matters: doing everything we can to support the wellbeing and success of our students.” Schiflett said.

>On position cuts, Schiflett said, “the people who work in our schools and our community as a whole are hurting.”

>“Staff, families, and employees, many of whom have been sounding the alarm far too long without meaningful change, have lost faith in the district’s ability to move forward in a transparent and financially,” she said.

>Schiflett and her wife, Reinette Jones, have lived in Lexington’s Masterson Station neighborhood since 2000, the news release said.

>R.J. Hijalda, a 29-year-old swim coach and a lead at Grounded All Day Cafe in Lexington, has also filed for the seat currently held by Murphy. Murphy’s current term ends this year, but he has filed for reelection.

>The filing deadline is June 2. Two of five seats on the district’s governing board will be up for election Nov. 3. The District 4 seat, held by Amanda Ferguson, will also appear on the November ballot. Fayette County Board of Education terms last four years.

>Murphy filed for reelection April 14 at Fayette County Clerk Susan Lamb’s office, which oversees election candidate filings. Hours later, the General Assembly passed a new law that makes Murphy ineligible from holding school board office again because he is a teacher in another Kentucky school district — Boyle County.

>However, Lamb has said that because Murphy filed to run before the law was passed and the process to file was not any different, she can’t remove him from the ballot. Someone would have to file a lawsuit to have Murphy removed from the race, Lamb told the Herald-Leader.

>There is also a current petition under consideration by state lawmakers to remove Murphy from office as a result of his handling of the district’s budget problems, for which he has repeatedly come under fire.

Hi. 👋

One of the things we think about a lot is how to make this community the best possible home for WNBA fans, including the tools we use to share and discuss games.

For a while now, we've used the Basketball Scoreboard App, which lets us publish game and post-game threads directly into this subreddit. The current developer put in a lot of work into building it, and it works, but we also think it can be better.

So, we've started development on a new version. One that serves WNBA fans particularly. We can't promise specific features or a timeline, but we can confirm that progress is underway and it's headed in a very promising direction.

Before we go further, though, we want to hear from you.

A few questions to get you started:

• What do you like about the current scoreboard app/posts? What should we make sure to keep?
• What frustrates you about it, or feels missing?
• Post-game threads: do you want scores hidden by default (spoiler protection) with a reveal option, or do you prefer scores always visible in the title?
• Is there anything else that would make your experience better?

No idea is too small. r/WNBA365 is your community, and we want to build something that actually serves it.

Drop your thoughts below.

Five numbers to keep an eye on heading into today’s games:

- A’ja Wilson is just 2 rebounds away from 2,500 career boards. She didn’t get there yesterday (needed 6, grabbed 4). She’s also 12 made free throws behind Tina Charles’s(!) all-time record of 1,471. Both could fall today.

- Brittney Griner needs 33 points to reach 6,000 for her career.

- Breanna Stewart is 16 rebounds from 2,500 career rebounds, another milestone that’s right around the corner.

- Gabby Williams needs just 3 steals to hit 300 for her career.

- Lexie Brown is 4 points away from 1,000 career points.

h/t: Across the Timeline

Some big numbers within reach heading into today’s games:

- A’ja Wilson needs just 6 rebounds to reach 2,500 for her career. If she gets there today (game 268), she’d be the 3rd-fastest player in WNBA history to that milestone, behind only Tina Charles (248 games) and Sylvia Fowles (262 games).

- Damiris Dantas is 5 rebounds away from career rebound #1,000.

- Angel Reese’s next double-double will be her 50th, which would make her just the 2nd player in WNBA history to record 50+ double-doubles in her first three seasons. The only other player to do it? Tina Charles, who had 63.

- Caitlin Clark needs 17 points to hit 1,000 for her career. Reaching it today (game 54) would tie her with Tamika Catchings and Breanna Stewart for the 6th-fastest to 1,000 points in league history.

Tina Charles doing a lot of heavy lifting in the record books today. 👀

h/t: Across the Timeline

Speaking of Charles, Andscape has a great article on her impact and legacy.

““I know what it feels like to be at the bottom,” Clark says. “I was like, there’s no other player here who has the firsthand experience of not making a roster, of being last on the bench, to playing a little bit off the bench, to then becoming a crucial impact role player… I know what it feels like, and so I wanted to be a voice for the players like me.”

The WNBPA executive committee behind this CBA included multiple No. 1 picks (Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum) and All-Star Olympians (Napheesa Collier). The players who were not necessarily stars were still first-round picks from major programs who had carved out steady careers: Elizabeth Williams and Brianna Turner. There was no perspective on the committee quite like Clark’s.”

“According to a statement from UK Healthcare, construction crews working at the hospital alerted hospital leadership about the incident. The hospital's emergency department is open, and Level 1 adult and pediatric trauma is being prioritized.

Patients impacted will be contacted directly regarding their surgery status and the scheduling of elective or non-emergency procedures.”

That's not concerning.

https://preview.redd.it/62kvh1j07yzg1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=0c5d0cfc7f1052442cacb2714b2f4ddd20363b4e

Five Lexington-Fayette state representatives have released the joint statement above in response to news that Fayette County Public Schools is seeking to take on $110 million in debt to cover ongoing operating expenses while moving forward with layoffs and cuts affecting teachers and school staff.

Rep. Lindsey Burke (D-75), Rep. Adrielle Camuel (D-93), Rep. Anne Donworth (D-76), Rep. Chad Aull (D-79), and Rep. Adam Moore (D-45) are calling for a moratorium on executive bonuses (HAY additives) and the resignation of the executives responsible.

At a season-ending press conference last year, Collier read a prepared statement denouncing the league and its commissioner, Cathy Engelbert. She said players were grossly underpaid. She criticized the refs. She called the game too physical and unsafe. She was talking after suffering injuries to both ankles that required surgery in the offseason. Collier will not be able to resume play until June, and spoke with us while wearing a medical boot on one foot.

Reminded that she had called Engelbert "the worst leadership in the world," Collier stepped back slightly. "Thinking about the state of the world right now, I think that's a little dramatic," Collier said.

But she added, "I think it was something that needed to happen and it was something that furthered our CBA [collective bargaining agreement] negotiations." Other players rallied to her side, and the statement added to public pressure on the league. Collier said she's only had brief conversations with the commissioner since then, and they never discussed her denunciation.

…

The growing popularity of women's basketball has attracted the interest of sports gamblers — who bet not only on the outcome of a game but a myriad of statistics and even individual shots. Collier mostly welcomes the attention, but talked about a side effect of growing sports betting — death threats from disappointed bettors.

Mostly it's just words, she said. "It worries you, though, at some point, something bad is going to happen because some person has lost. $30,000 because you didn't hit a three pointer or something," Collier said.

We asked about the possibility of a player shaping a game to win a bet. She cast doubt on it. "I think most people, one, want to uphold that integrity and, two, you don't want to risk it," Collier said. "Like this is the first time that a lot of us are making real money. And do you want to risk that for something like gambling?"

The Division of Code Enforcement is scheduled to present its annual update to the Urban County Council's Social Services and Public Safety Committee (SSPS) tomorrow, Tuesday, May 5, at 1:00 p.m.

According to the committee packet, for the most recent reporting period, the division opened 6,884 cases and closed 6,903. It responded to 83% of initial complaints within 3 days and achieved a 78% re-inspection rate within 5 days. It issued 1,547 citations, carrying $575,000 in fines, and filed 1,228 liens, for a principal amount of $487,000.

On the assistance side, the Housing Repair Assistance Program provided $198,000 to 42 owner-occupied households in FY25 and $141,000 to 29 households in FY26 through April 17. The Sidewalk Cost Share Program assisted 1,252 households with $245,000 in matching funds; a sidewalk abatement program launched in January 2025 has resolved 75 cases at a cost of $61,000.

For 2026, the division plans to improve tracking dashboards for complaints, response times, and outcomes, and use that data to identify problem areas for proactive inspection rather than waiting for complaints.

h/t: CivicLex newsletter