LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A news conference on Friday, Aug. 11 by Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio addressed a series of issues related to the first day of bus problems. An issue presented by Kentucky lawmakers was to split the JCPS district.
Pollio said de-consolidating the District would be a challenge that might lead to students in Louisville’s high-poverty areas to suffer the most.
“And so I’ve talked about the difference in this city demographically and socioeconomically and with the how we would split up a city so that districts would not be 100% destitute by property assessments or, you know, and I guess or very, very low property assessment and very, very high property assessment would be an enormous challenge,” said Pollio.
He said a district split would be “the most disruptive thing to the Louisville community.”
On Thursday, Aug. 10, Republican lawmakers representing Jefferson County, sent an open letter to the JCPS community calling for an evaluation into a split. The GOP leaders say with nearly 100,000 students in 165 schools, the District is too large to manage. The group said JCPS “failed in its most fundamental obligation, which is to keep our kids safe.”
In the social post, lawmakers called for several steps to be taken to address the situation that include:
- Re-filing a bill in the state legislature, giving students the right to attend their neighborhood schools
- A commission to evaluate splitting up JCPS
- Extensive changes to the school board
- A “school choice amendment” to be put on the 2024 ballot
- Convening a special session of the General Assembly to immediately enact these policies and other steps
-
