Deep dive inside JCPS’ budget crisis: Cuts jumped $90 million in three months

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — With fewer than 20 days until Jefferson County Public Schools unveils a budget that leaders say is critical to the district’s future, questions are mounting about the math behind a projected $188 million shortfall.

A district spokesperson said the proposed budget will be made public ahead of a Jan. 20 board meeting. The school board received a list of proposed cuts and reorganization of central office on Dec. 23. 

The financial alarm first sounded during a routine school board meeting in September, when district leaders warned JCPS could run out of money by 2026.

“Next fall, we will be selling off assets in order to pay payroll,” now former Executive Administrator of Budget Dr. Thomas Aberli said during that meeting. “And the fall after that, we will not have enough assets to sell off anymore… at that point, there will no longer be a Jefferson County Public Schools.”

JCPS operates on an annual budget of more than $2 billion.

Since that meeting, WDRB has reviewed a decade of district budgets, filed more than a dozen open records requests, and repeatedly questioned district leadership about how the shortfall grew so large.

Several school board members said they were unaware how severe the financial situation had become until the September meeting. At the September board meeting, district leaders admitted to removing certain charts from budget presentations before showing them to the board.

“Isn’t that deception?” board chair Corrie Shull asked during the September meeting.

“I would call it a judgment,” said Eddie Muns, JCPS’s chief financial officer, when asked about the omission.

When questioned later about who instructed staff to remove an organizational chart from a budget presentation, Muns responded, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

JCPS officials have said the deficit is largely the result of the district’s reliance on federal COVID-19 relief money, known as ESSER funds, which have now expired.

However, records reviewed by WDRB show JCPS ran a deficit nearly every year for a decade, with one exception — 2022, when COVID relief funds temporarily balanced the budget.

In June 2025, during what would be his final interview with WDRB, then-Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio described a much smaller financial correction ahead.

“They’re going to have to do about $40 million more next year, and then it is a soft landing,” Pollio said.

Three months later, under new leadership, the projected cuts grew dramatically to $132 million.

WDRB reviewed internal emails and prior budget presentations from that period and found no warnings of a sudden financial cliff.

During an interview, Superintendent Dr. Brian Yearwood was asked how the number increased by roughly $90 million in just three months.

“We used our ESSER funds to bring in programs,” Yearwood said. “But I guess the numbers started — I call it — getting bigger and bigger.”

District records show something else grew during that same period: central office administration. JCPS now has nearly twice as many chief-level positions as it did 10 years ago.

District leaders have said upcoming cuts will focus on administration, not classrooms, and have promised transparency.

But when asked for an interview, the district’s top financial leader declined.

“I was just seeing if you’re available for a quick interview tonight,” a WDRB's Adi Schanie asked.

“No thanks,” Muns replied.

“Can I ask why not?”

“Because I’m tired,” he said.

Multiple follow-up requests were sent through the district’s communications team to no avail.

Former Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio did not respond to repeated requests for comment.