JCPS approves makeup day, teacher bonuses and $1M land purchase for new school

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — JCPS students will have an extra day of school this year for all that time off for the winter storm that came through last month.

That makeup day, which will be tacked on to the end of the school year, on May 23rd, is just one of the five days that were canceled in January. The four other days will be forgiven and won't have to be made up.

This was one of several items on the JCPS School Board agenda that was approved Tuesday night.

An incentive for J. Blaine Hudson Middle School teachers also got the green light.

Those who work for the full school year will get an additional $7,000 on their last paycheck in June.

Teachers who travel to multiple schools must spend at least half of their work time at Hudson to be eligible for the yearly continuity stipend.

Teachers assigned after the first student day and in active status by the first pay date in October will receive $5,250. Teachers assigned after the first student day and in active status by the first student day after Dec. 31 will receive $3,500. Teachers assigned after the first student day and in active status by the first pay date in March will receive $1,750.

This is for the next two school years.

Those teachers already receive $8,000 for working in the choice zone, so that's up to $15,000 more for those teachers.

Another topic during Tuesday's meeting was about one of JCPS' newer schools dealing with overcrowding in an old building.

Grace James Academy is an all-girl STEM school in the Russell neighborhood.

The district has approved the purchase agreement of 17 acres of land on Terry Road in Pleasure Ridge Park. It'll cost the district a little more than $1 million.

The school is currently on West Broadway in an old elementary school building that board members say is overcrowded.

Buying the land would move it out of District 1, which board member Gail Logan Strange said is upsetting. Dr. Grace James was a Black pediatrician in that area, so Logan Strange believes it should stay there. Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said they couldn't find any property near the current location.

"There's just a rich history and legacy of Dr. James in district one, and so for the school that bears her name to not be in that district is very disappointing," Logan Strange said. "Unfortunately, the land's not there. We're landlocked, and so we have to move."

Grace James progress is just one part of the district's long-term facilities plan.

Seneca High School and Okolona Elementary are expected to break ground on new buildings some time this year.

One item up for discussion took up a big chunk of the time at Tuesday night's meeting: Cell phone use in schools.

Fern Creek High School has implemented a policy where students place their phones in a bag at the beginning of the school day and aren't allowed to take them back out until the end of the day.

The principal said it was a group effort to come up with the plan, surveying teachers and families last school year to figure out what the problems were. Students admitted they were distracted.

Now, after implementing the program, 44% of students said they felt like they were learning better.

The principal also said more books were checked out in the first two weeks of the school year than there were all of last school year.

"Kids are engaging with each other, they're engaging with text, they're engaging in projects. The collaboration in class has just been an incredible thing to see," Dr. Rebecca Nicolas, Fern Creek High School principal said.

JCPS already has a policy stating cell phones can't be used during instruction. However, many employees didn't even know that policy existed.

Board members hope to have a cell phone policy proposal in May to take effect in August.

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