LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In a letter to Kentucky State Auditor Mike Harmon, R-Ky., referencing administrator pay, transportation issues, guns in schools and academic performance, Republican lawmakers representing Jefferson County called for a “comprehensive financial and management audit of [Jefferson County Public Schools] JCPS” to provide a “ten-year lookback.”

What You Need To Know

  • Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to Kentucky State Auditor Mike Harmon, requesting an audit of JCPS 

  • The letter references administrator pay, transportation issues, guns in schools and academic performance 

  • JCPS said it has undergone six audits and reviews since 2017

  • State Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, called the move  "politically-motivated"

The recent busing issues that forced schools to close for a week are “just the tip of the iceberg,” they wrote. 

“Deadly weapons are regularly brought to school without ample accountability, and teachers report student violence as their biggest challenge in the classroom. Academic performance is also a massive problem in JCPS, with fewer than 36% of JCPS students reading at grade level,” they said. 

State Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, said the district underwent an audit 10 years ago.

The review was conducted by then-auditor Adam Edelen and “found that the district’s school board lacked the ‘depth of understanding required to actively examine or question the budget effectively without significant reliance on JCPS staff,’” according to the letter. 

“It’s time, now that 10 years have passed, to go back and re-audit it,” Nemes said Tuesday. “That, in addition to the significant problems that JCPS has had in the interim between then and now, led us to believe that it’s time to do a full management and financial audit of JCPS.”

JCPS has undergone six audits and reviews since 2017, as well as annual independent financial audits and Kentucky Department of Education school reviews, according to the district. The following timeline outlines those six audits: 

  • 2017 - Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Initial Management Audit (276 corrective action items identified)

  • 2018 - Council of the Great City Schools Organizational Review of Central Office

  • 2018 - Kentucky Department of Education Consolidated Monitoring Report (Review of seven state/federal programs)

  • 2019 - AdvancED Performance Accreditation and Engagement Review 

  • 2020 - Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Final Management Audit (All corrective action items identified in 2017 were corrected) 

  • 2023 - Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) District Diagnostic Review

“We cannot ignore the concerns that this audit may be politically motivated rather than an impartial review of our operations… Instead of forcing JCPS to spend money on this audit, the legislature should prioritize investing in our schools directly to ensure quality education for all students,” a JCPS spokesperson said in a statement.

“This is not a political question,” said Nemes. “This is the core of what we do. This is the most important thing that government does. It’s JCPS. There’s not a close second and we are failing too many kids.”

State Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, asserted the audit request was “a completely politically motivated move by people who only represent the far outskirts of Jefferson County intentionally because they don’t have enough voters in Jefferson County to support their positions.”

“Honestly, I would say deal with your own problems,” said Berg. “My old district, Oldham County, has lost over 200 teachers since the end of last school year. Fifty-seven of them have come to Jefferson County Public Schools.” Berg was referencing a recent report in The Oldham Era. 

She called on Republicans raising concerns about guns in schools to discuss gun reform legislation.

The majority caucus has heard from Harmon and will schedule a meeting, Nemes said.

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