LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Marty Pollio staked an ambitious vision for Kentucky’s largest school district during a speech Wednesday, highlighting work already underway to make schools more equitable and to improve classroom engagement.
Pollio also appealed to those who attended his second State of the District address to help JCPS as it pursues more tax money to fund the initiatives laid out Wednesday, including the construction of new schools.
“Major change only comes from the collective group,” Pollio said. “...In order to accomplish this task, we are going to need the strong, vocal support of everyone in this room, or our children will continue to suffer. We need this change for our students.”
The district is exploring a number of taxing options to boost its coffers, including through higher base property tax rates and enacting a recallable “nickel” tax that can only be used to finance facilities spending. JCPS has estimated its unmet facility needs at about $1.2 billion.
Pollio had the property tax rates of surrounding school districts displayed during his speech, showing that the 73.6 cents levied for every $100 of local property value in Jefferson County lags several other districts like those in Nelson and Oldham counties.
Anchorage Independent, also in Jefferson County, topped the tax list at 98.2 cents owed for every $100 of assessed property value.
In their push for more tax revenue, members of the Jefferson County Board of Education’s Revenue Advisory Task Force discussed hiring a marketing firm to sell the public on the need for more money. JCPS Communications Director Renee Murphy said a firm has not been hired yet.
The tax question is expected to be heard during a May 12 public hearing, according to a timeline presented to the task force in December.
JCPS plans to emphasize that the district’s tax rate is lower than those in surrounding counties and how the extra investment will help boost student achievement, Pollio told reporters after his speech.
“We’re going to make the case that other counties around us have made that decision,” he said. “They have much better facilities than JCPS. They have much better supports for students than JCPS.”
JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio gives his second State of the District address at the Galt House on Feb. 26, 2020.
Even without the additional tax money, Pollio stressed that the district has taken significant steps toward addressing some of the district’s biggest issues.
He touched on efforts within JCPS to provide equitable learning opportunities for its minority students and a proposal to give families in west Louisville an option to send their kids to middle or high school closer to home as part of a broader student assignment plan redesign.
Those who live in “satellite” resides areas come from west Louisville and are bused to schools throughout Jefferson County, putting the onus of school diversity on the shoulders of those families, Pollio said.
The TARC ride home for one Eastern High School student who lives in Louisville’s West End and recently met Pollio lasts for about an hour and a half if she wants to participate in extracurricular activities at school, he said.
“What if she missed the bus?” Pollio asked. “How is this impacting student attendance? How would she get there?
“This is why I think all students in our community should have choice to go to school in their community or to make a decision to go outside of their community.”
Such a major change to the district’s student assignment plan will require new schools in west Louisville, particularly a middle school.
The district is also looking at opening a new music-oriented magnet school in the West End for the 2021-22 school year, Pollio said.
The program, if approved by the school board, will be open to elementary students who are passionate about music, he said. Participants will get their own instruments, learn about music for 250 hours a year and work in partnership with the Louisville Orchestra.
“By the time they finish the fifth grade, every student at the school will be a proficient musician and will play alongside the Louisville Orchestra and Teddy Abrams,” Pollio said, referencing the orchestra’s music director.
Attendees of JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio's State of the District address talk before Pollio's remarks.
One new initiative offered by Pollio in his State of the District address is a pitch to alter school start times in hopes of getting more students in class and engaged with their learning.
High school and middle school students in JCPS begin classes at 7:40 a.m. while elementary schools start at 9:05 a.m. Starting later or alternate start times, particularly for older students, could cut into the 55,000 students who miss six or more days each school year, Pollio said.
“Thirty percent of our high school students are chronically absent because they’re waking up before 6 a.m. to get to school, and research is clear on this: There’s no benefit to starting school before 8 a.m.,” he said. “But why do we do it? Because it’s the way we’ve always done it, and change is hard.”
Pollio said details of the proposal are still under development, telling reporters that the district is looking at alternate start times for schools based on different groupings, such as by types of schools.
He said changing school start times can create “a real domino affect” throughout JCPS. Other large school districts have multiple start times for schools, not just two like in JCPS, Pollio said, adding that the proposal would likely take effect for the 2021-22 school year if it passes muster with the school board.
“We know that by moving back the start time, adding in additional start times would have a huge impact on our kids,” he said.
JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio gives his second State of the District address at the Galt House on Feb. 26, 2020.
Whether Jefferson County residents will get behind the district’s initiatives, primarily through paying higher taxes, remains to be seen.
Setting higher property tax rates beyond a state-allowed revenue growth threshold and adding a nickel tax could be subject to recall if enough opposition emerges.
If that happens, the fates of those proposed taxes will be in the hands of Jefferson County voters in the next general election.
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