After meeting throughout the interim session, the controversial task force created to reimagine Jefferson County Public School’s structure recommended extending the task force for another year.
The board’s GOP co-chairs, Representative Kim Banta of Fort Mitchell and Senator Michael Nemes of Shepherdsville, said they want to wait until JCPS has a new superintendent at the helm to make specific recommendations on how to improve the district. Current leader Marty Pollio announced he would step down at the end of the school year.
“More detailed information is needed to develop a set of recommendations to improve district efficiency and effectiveness,” Banta and Nemes wrote in the letter. “Furthermore, due to the pending selection of a new district superintendent and potential changes at the federal level, additional time would ensure the recommendations would have an impact.”
The Efficient and Effective School District Governance Task Force was set up during the legislative session to review the district’s governance, its size and structure and explore options for restructuring, among other things.
JCPS is a frequent target of Republican leaders, and the district’s recent transportation crisis did nothing to allay those critiques. Several Republican lawmakers have also made clear they want to break up the district, even as they discussed a task force that is supposed to study a number of different possibilities.
Democratic lawmakers, which make up the majority of the Frankfort’s Louisville contingent, oppose the task force, saying they believe it was designed to justify breaking up the school district. It’s a prospect that dominated discussion at the committee’s two public comment meetings held in Louisville, where community members railed against splitting up the state’s largest school district.
The chairs released a list of suggestions for what the committee could do with an additional year. Splitting up the district wasn’t on that list. However, the task force does recommend looking into implementing “regional administration within the district.”
The suggestions also include hiring an outside consultant on improving student outcomes and exploring a classroom ban on cellphones. The chairs also recommended further exploration into expanding the seven-member JCPS board of education and required training for board members.
The chairs also recommended further investigation of the “central office organization, positions, and salaries.” The salaries of top officials with JCPS have frequently been under scrutiny. They also hope to set a schedule of regular audits in the operations, curriculum and finances of the school district.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
