Louisville residents call for more funding, rail against splitting up JCPS in state hearing

Despite lawmaker assurances to the contrary, Louisville residents and community leaders spoke Tuesday of their fears that the state’s largest district would be broken up as a result of recommendations from a state legislative task force focused on Jefferson County Public Schools.

Dozens of parents, teachers, students and community leaders trickled into the auditorium of Central High School. One by one, they stood before a stage of seated lawmakers and Louisvillians chosen to join a taskforce designed to study Jefferson County Public Schools. Residents who signed up to speak before the committee expressed concerns about what the taskforce would recommend and concerns that it could lead to the dismantling of the district.

Ava Williams, a junior at Central High School, still wore her school lanyard, leaving her backpack at her seat as she got up to speak at the hearing. She said the idea of dividing JCPS “sparks fear” among students.

“I fear the splitting of the district could jeopardize the unique experiences and support that Central provides its students,” Ava said. “Smaller districts may be faced with resource constraints that could limit access to specialized magnet programs, especially for students in disadvantaged areas like Central High School.”

Most speakers also called for additional funding for JCPS, specifically referring to the district’s transportation woes and teacher salaries. Several superintendents have said that the increases to school funding in this year’s budget were not sufficient to provide significant teacher raises, which Democrats have long called for.

The Efficient and Effective School Governance Task Force met in Louisville’s Central High School where JCPS parents and teachers weighed in on the legislature’s efforts to reshape the district.

The taskforce will have another meeting in Louisville for public comment held at Male High School on September 10 at 5:30 pm.

The taskforce will submit a report with recommendations to the General Assembly by December 1st, ahead of next year’s legislative session. The taskforce has already met several times in Frankfort, mostly hearing from JCPS leadership and various educational experts.

Lyndon Pryor, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, questioned why JCPS is the focus of the state legislature , rather than things like healthcare or housing.

“There seems to be this tendency to pick on JCPS,” Pryor said. “You all have to do better as electeds and those who represent us about truly fixing the issues that people want to be fixed, that need to be fixed.”

The Republican-led General Assembly created the taskforce earlier this year to study JCPS. Democrats are worried the task force will be used to push for breaking up the district. Republicans say they have no predetermined outcome in mind — although some have already expressed interest in splitting up the state’s largest district.

As he voted on the resolution to create the taskforce, Republican Floor Leader Sen. Damon Thayer said he would have been ready to vote then.

“I want to be clear, and on the record: I would vote today to break it up. I would vote today to break it up into multiple school districts,” Thayer said. “But I defer to my friends in the Jefferson County delegation who suggest we have this task force first.”

In the midst of the hearing, GOP task force co-chair Rep. Kim Banta from Ft. Mitchell told the audience that they are “not talking about splitting up the district.”

Despite those assurances, most of the students, parents and community leaders who talked to the committee spoke directly to fears that JCPS would be split.

Kumar Rashad, Kentucky’s 2024 High School Teacher of the Year, said that the district’s size allows it to offer the range of resources that it does.

“My school gives emotional support and provides nurses, college preparedness, culinary arts to interested students across our district. It's because of our size that we're able to do these things,” Rashad said. “We offer students pathways into a larger economy. We couldn't do this if we were smaller districts.”

Ryan Davis, a math teacher at Waggener High School, said he is a frequent critic of the district, but said the state should not try to impose its own will over that of the local community.

“The energy of our students and educators has been overtaxed and burdened because they go to school, they go to practice, they study, and then they also have to show up at meetings like this every year for the past 17 years just to defend their right to go back to school the next day,” Davis said.

Amina Shale, who graduated from JCPS as a refugee from Kenya, said she was especially concerned for multilingual learners in the district. Shale said it feels like her community is rarely represented and must deal with legislation and policy affecting them without being able to provide input.

“We want to be represented. However, even within this room, I feel like we probably didn't know it was happening today,” Shale said.

State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.