FRANKFORT, Ky. — A state task force to study if Kentucky’s largest school district should be split up is one step closer to becoming a reality. It comes on the same day that the Jefferson County Board of Education will vote on how it buses students from now on. 

What You Need To Know

  • Lawmakers propose creating a task force to study Jefferson County Public Schools

  • It would look at how the district is run, student performance, and hear testimony from stakeholders

  • The task force also would study possibly splitting up JCPS, and the effects of it

  • According to the district, JCPS has been audited or studied six times since 2017

“House Concurrent Resolution 81 is an approach to help the largest school district find solutions that face their challenges,” State Rep. Ken Fleming, R-Louisville, told members of the Senate Education Committee.

If passed, this task force would study JCPS, how it is being run, and what changes should be made to improve it. It includes looking at the makeup of its school board, administration and “Explore options for the restructuring or reorganizing” the district. This would include splitting it into smaller districts.

“We need to take a close examination of the governance of JCPS and particularly the board when it comes to structure, functionality, duties, effectiveness and efficiency,” Fleming said.

Earlier in the session, Fleming told Spectrum News 1 all options were on the table for JCPS’ future. 

“There is a systemic thing that needs to change,” Fleming said. “However, we do not want to take a knee jerk reaction to address the issues facing this district.”

On Monday, an audit of last year’s first day busing disaster found several missteps in communication and oversight by the district. Fleming calls what he’s read about the 200-plus page report “eye opening.”

“So that’s some of the things that we want to try to flush out, define what’s going on in terms of the functionality and the governance of the board,” Fleming said.

The 13 member task force would be made up of lawmakers, parents with students in the district, representatives from the district and other stakeholders in Louisville. 

Their work would begin work this summer and wrap up at the end of 2024.

In February, Mark Hebert, a spokesperson for JCPS, provided Spectrum News 1 with this statement on HCR 81: “We are fine with an objective, unbiased study of JCPS and how we might better serve students. We have been repeatedly studied, audited, and evaluated since Dr. Pollio took office. However, this task force is obviously stacked in a way to come to a pre-ordained conclusion, that is, to split up JCPS. Dr. Pollio, and anyone who truly understands education governance, is excluded from the task force, and that says it all.”

The district’s statement listed six studies and audits of JCPS since 2017.

The next step in the legislative process for the task force is approval by the State Senate, which could come later this week.

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