Board moves to delay vote on JCPS central office job cuts

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Jefferson County Board of Education moved to delay a vote on central office job cuts at Jefferson County Public Schools.

The cuts are part of $142 million in proposed cuts across the district to address what is projected to be a $188 million shortfall in the 2026-27 budget.

The board was slated to vote on the cuts during Tuesday evening's board meeting, a day after the district released organizational charts showing which positions are potentially being cut.

But members shared concerns about the lack of time given to review the proposed cuts, as they were released about 24 hours before the board was supposed to vote on them.

Instead, the board moved to table the vote until a specially-called meeting this Friday, Feb. 13.

JCPS Superintendent Dr. Brian Yearwood made clear he did not want to delay a vote, and said he was worried about doing so, stressing the reorganization as an "urgent issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible in order to provide adequate time for transitions to new roles and hiring for new positions."

Board members raised concerns about the transparency and impact of the cuts, as the district has continuously said 300 central office positions would be eliminated. But that is not what the numbers show.

The district's "report on reorganization presentation" shows 178 new positions planned for next year. It also shows 213 occupied positions and 74 vacant positions would be eliminated under the plan.

The slides say some of the "eliminated" roles are reclassified or downgraded positions. The district did not have an answer for how many are purely being reclassified, rather than cut.

The presentation also shows 85 of the impacted employees have active teaching certifications and may transition into classroom roles.

The district also did not have an answer for WDRB on whether the 85 employees with teacher certifications are included in the figures for eliminated occupied positions. If they are already included in those figures, the district nets about 35 less filled positions in central office based on this plan. If they are not, the district nets roughly 120 less filled positions, which is less than half of what the district said would be cut.

WDRB asked Yearwood if his pledge to cut 300 positions in central office was misleading. He said "Oh of course not, we can get you the exact numbers, I don't have them in front of me right now," and "We will get you those numbers because I want to be 100% accurate."

Speakers at Tuesday's meeting shared outrage over a lack of consulting with those impacted, such as parents, principals and students.

Yearwood said they could not integrate principal feedback on the cuts because there was not a consensus from principals.

Speakers also addressed negative impacts they said the cuts will have on the students that the district is not acknowledging, specifically regarding equity. One speaker even suggested suing former JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio.

There were also questions with no clear answers about what will happen if those with more tenure currently in central office are seeking classroom roles, or the impact this will have on teachers with less tenure but are actively in the classroom.

The Jefferson County Teachers Association is asking the district to provide a summary of where each dollar of the $142 million in cuts is coming from and 2025-26 and 2026-27 funding comparisons for each school to show how individual schools are impacted by the cuts.

This is a developing story that may be updated.

JCPS organizational charts by WDRB

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