Next week a group of 13 people will start talking about the future of Kentucky’s largest school district — including whether it should even exist.
The GOP-led state legislature forged the Efficient and Effective District Governance Task Force during this year’s General Assembly, despite pushback from public school advocates who fear its creation signals the start of an effort to dismantle the Jefferson County Public Schools system.
The group is charged with studying the make-up and governance of JCPS and how a “restructuring or reorganizing” could impact district property, personnel, funding and more.
Louisville Republicans say the district’s test scores and recent issues with transportation mean JCPS is in need of study.
Lawmakers released the names Thursday of the non-legislator members they selected from a pool of dozens of applicants to serve on the task force. Those members are:
- Brittany Abdelahad, a JCPS parent and senior director of project management at Brightspring Health Services. Abdelahad is a registered Republican who lives in the East End of Louisville. She also serves as secretary of the parish council for St. Michael’s Antiochian Orthodox Church. Abdelahad is filling one of two “resident-parent” positions created as part of the task force.
- Angela Masden-Wilson, a JCPS parent and registered Democrat who lives in Louisville’s South End. According to LinkedIn, Masden-Wilson is the director of civic engagement for Play Cousins Collective and has a consulting company. Masden-Wilson is the second resident-parent member.
- George Nichols, a career and technical education teacher at Iroquois High School, treasurer of the Jefferson County Teachers Association and a registered Democrat. Nichols is the current teacher member of the task force.
- Jody Wurtenberger, former consultant for Humana, according to Linked In, and director and vice-president of City Schoolhouse, a private Christian school in Shively. Wurtenberger wrote an op-ed published in the Courier-Journal last month in support of sending taxpayer dollars to private schools. Wurtenberger fills the “business member” position.
- Rebecca Nicolas, principal of Fern Creek High School and a registered Democrat. Nicolas is the group’s principal representative. She was chosen from a list of three names submitted to the Legislative Research Commission by JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio. In a legislative committee meeting earlier this year, the GOP lawmaker who sponsored the legislation creating the task force said Pollio could put his own name forward, since he is a former principal. However, JCPS spokesperson Carolyn Callahan told KyCIR the district was later told only current principals would be eligible.
- Phillip Baker, District 6 Louisville Metro Council Member will serve as Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg’s designee. Baker is a registered Democrat and a Family Resource and Youth Service Center Coordinator at Coleridge-Taylor Elementary school in JCPS.
- State Auditor Allison Ball, a Republican, is taking the place on the task force set aside for her office.
The legislator members of the task force are:
- Republican Sen. Michael J. Nemes, co-chair (Shepherdsville)
- Republican Rep. Kim Banta, co-chair (Ft. Mitchell)
- Democratic Sen. Gerald A. Neal (Louisville)
- Republican Sen. Lindsey Tichenor (Smithfield)
- Democratic Rep. Tina Bojanowski (Louisville)
- Republican Rep. Ken Fleming (Louisville)
Louisville Rep. Ken Fleming, a Republican who sponsored the task force resolution, said the LRC received about 46 applications for non-legislator positions.
In a statement, task force co-chair, Republican Sen. Mike Nemes, of Sheperdsville, said the LRC’s nonpartisan staff “carefully considered” each applicant before recommending them to Nemes and his co-chair Republican Rep. Kim Banta, of Ft. Mitchell.
Lawmakers, however, will not reveal who else applied for those positions. The LRC denied a KyCIR request for application materials and a list of applicants.
Rep. Josie Raymond, a Louisville Democrat, said the secrecy is “B.S.”
“I think we want to know who applied, right, to see who is speaking to give voice to the challenges that we're having in our school district? And are those people getting a chance to be heard?” she told KyCIR in an interview earlier this week.
Raymond is among many Democrats who question the motivations behind the task force.
Louisville’s Democratic delegation has warned that the task force is being formed to push through an outcome many Republicans already have their eye on — splitting up the district.
Now, the withholding of applicants’ names is giving JCPS’ supporters more pause.
Rep. Tina Bojanowski, a Louisville Democrat, is one of two minority party members on the task force. She said she thought lawmakers should disclose the names of all the applicants “for transparency’s sake.”
Otherwise, Bojanowski said, the public may wonder if Republican leaders are giving themselves cover to “stack” the task force in support of a desired outcome.
The task force has support from Republican lawmakers who have long publicly expressed interest in breaking up the large urban-suburban district. And much of the task force’s marching orders, written into the resolution, are to explore splitting JCPS or changing its governance structure.
Fleming denied that the task force was created with a predetermined outcome in mind.
"I don't care who you are in this county — there's got to be a recognition that something has to change," Fleming told KyCIR.
GOP House leadership spokesperson Laura Leigh Goins did not respond to a request for a list of applicants.
Jefferson County Board of Education Chair Corrie Shull did not respond to a request for comment.
The group’s first meeting is scheduled for Monday in Capitol Annex Room 154 at 1:00 p.m. Pollio is on the agenda to present.
The group is expected to make a report of findings and recommendations to the LRC by Dec. 1. Fleming said he thought there was a possibility the group could be “reactivated” next year to continue its research.
Lawmakers directed the LRC to choose applicants "and ensure that such appointments reflect the racial minority and gender composition of[JCPS] based upon the most recent data from the United States Census Bureau."
An LRC spokesperson did not respond to a KyCIR question as to whether lawmakers believe the task force members meet those demographic requirements.
Jefferson County is 64% white, 22% Black, 7% multiracial and 8% Latino according to the 2020 U.S. Census. Census data specifically for JCPS is not readily available. According to the Kentucky Department of Education, JCPS, which encompasses most of Jefferson County, has a student population that is 36% white, 37% Black, 16% Latino and 11% other students of color.
Jefferson County Public Schools was formed in 1975 in response to a federal court order merging the majority-white county school system with the more diverse city school system.
The Louisville NAACP opposes dividing the district over concerns resources would not be equally split between lower-income areas and more affluent neighborhoods. Louisville is still heavily racially and economically segregated due to decades of discriminatory housing policies.
Joe Sonka contributed reporting for this story.
