A Fayette school board candidate forum has been marred by misleading statements from candidates

As a community, we take our democracy and our right to vote seriously, and we understand the importance of every election.

While forum for candidates for the school board held at Consolidated Baptist Church, we discovered that even a school board race can be rife with dishonesty and fraud, and because of this, fact-checking has become part of the debates.

We had hope this forum would give Fayette County residents the opportunity to hear how school board candidates will work to ensure that all of our students achieve at high levels. On the contrary, to our dismay, several candidates used this forum as an opportunity to make statements that were either false or out of context, and we feel compelled to address them.

In her introduction, candidate Betsy Rutherford, when asked what role the school board should play in closing the achievement gap, said results of recent tests and lack of development among primary school students. No mention was made of the fact that third-grade elementary school students who were tested last year entered kindergarten in August 2020 and those students were learning virtually this year. Additionally, it has not been recognized that despite these challenges, FCPS continues to outperform state averages at every grade level.

Rutherford also said she has 32 years of experience and served as principal at Russell Cave Elementary School for 10 years. She specifically mentioned that she would make sure our students were proficient and excelled in reading and math. However, in 2014, while she was serving as principal, the Herald-Leader reported that Russell Cave Elementary was one of 10 worst schools in reading, with less than 24% of students scoring proficient or distinguished on the statewide achievement test.

When candidates were asked to hold the superintendent accountable for the district’s progress without micromanaging day-to-day operations, candidate Monica Mundy stated that the curator’s latest assessment it read: “one cover letter, all praise, five checkboxes.” In fact, the 2022-2023 Annual Assessment was a one-page document outlining strengths and areas of growth, accompanied by a written statement from Chairman Murphy summarizing the assessment. The 2023-2024 assessment was a two-page document. Page 1 contained the actual rating Dr. Liggins received on the “seven” standards. Page 2 provided an overview, including its successes and areas where it needs to continue to develop.

Additionally, she further stated that “we did not receive this strategic plan for about the first year and a half.” This is simply not true. Dr. Liggins began serving as FCPS Superintendent in July 2021, and ten months later, after engaging with over 20,000 stakeholders, the “A New Way for the Future” strategic plan was approved by the Board of Education on May 23, 2022. Then, employees’ presentations presented to the Management Board indicate what priorities their work is consistent with.

Not everything is perfect in Fayette County Public Schools, or Lexington for that matter. However, we are making progress in the important areas of student achievement and opportunity, and the data supports this.

It is disappointing that school board candidates chose to distort or misrepresent facts. Instead of deliberately seeking to create discord through misinformation, we hope that our school officials will engage in collaboration for the good of our students, and that includes working with our superintendent.

We believe in the First Amendment and that everyone is entitled to their opinion. Similarly, we believe it is important to communicate and share facts so that people can make decisions based on those facts and not someone else’s opinion.

Despite the misinformation we observed during the forum, we hope Fayette County residents will better understand the role of the school board and what is at stake. Since 2000, FCPS has been led by six superintendents and four interim superintendents. Our superintendent, his leadership team, and the school board have identified a “New Way Forward,” and the District is beginning to reap the benefits. We cannot allow people with alternative facts and political agendas to disrupt the work. 42,000 children count on us.

The Rev. Richard Gaines has served as senior pastor at Consolidated Baptist Church for the past 28 years.