LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville public school leaders sat before a state task force Monday in Frankfort, talking about everything from employee salaries to math and reading scores.

Jefferson County Public School Superintendent Marty Pollio joined other JCPS leaders in providing information to a special group in Frankfort that's tasked with seeing what improvements can be made to the district.

The task force is made up of 13 members, with several legislators, including House Speaker David Osborne and Senate President Robert Stivers. Rep. Kim Banta, R-Fort Mitchell, and Sen. Michael J. Nemes, R-Shepherdsville, leading the group as co-chairs.

For the last several years, JCPS has struggled to recruit enough bus drivers, resulting in buses running delayed, up to several hours.

In attempt to resolve the problem, JCPS changed from just two to nine start times, and partnered with out of state routing company AlphaRoute to maximize transportation with its limited drivers. However, the first day of school last year with new start times and bus routes, proved to be disastrous for the district. The first day was plagued with bus delays in the morning and the afternoon. Some students' buses never showed up that morning, and others didn't get dropped off from school that evening until almost 10 p.m.

"From what we started last year with, we've made some significant progress," Pollio said Monday. "We still have a ways to go though, because we're having to make tough decisions around who gets transported, and that's something we don't want to do, but we've had to do."

The backlash from the bus plan's rollout was immediate and far-reaching. Republicans in Frankfort immediately rallied together demanding answers from JCPS leaders and hinting at the creation of task force to explore splitting the district. Co-chair Sen. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, has said while splitting up the district has been broached as a possible outcome in the past that is not the sole intent of the task force.

Jefferson County Public School Superintendent Marty Pollio joined other JCPS leaders in providing information to a special group in Frankfort that's tasked with seeing what improvements can be made to the district.

And Pollio said Monday that would be disruptive.

"We have to change constantly as our students change and as we grow and as we learn more," he told the panel. "I like to say, 'When we know better, we do better.'"

The panel is a direct result of House Concurrent Resolution 81, which the Kentucky General Assembly adopted during the 2024 legislative session. Sponsored by Rep. Ken Fleming, R-Louisville, the measure called for a working group to review the administrative functions and learning outcomes of school districts that have more than 75,000 students, which only applies to JCPS. 

Citizen members were chosen through a public application process announced in June. Fern Creek High School Principal Rebecca Nicolas and Iroquois teacher and treasurer for Jefferson County Teachers Association George Nichols are on the task force. Angela Masden-Wilson and Brittany Abdelahad will serve as resident-parent members. Jody Wurtenberger will serve as the business member.

The task force held its first meeting July 15, hearing a presentation from JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio. He and other district leaders gave a general overview of the school district, including the make up of the administration and the board of education. They also shared information on schools focused on career and technical education and how the district is spending its nearly $2 billion budget. 

In Monday's second task force meeting, district leaders went over a few items the task force requested information on, including employee salaries. They also highlighted the changes made to the reading and math curricula.

Legislators passed several bills in recent sessions connected with early childhood reading and math in an effort to bridge the gap. Those were designed to change the standards to help students succeed, and they were thanked for that effort Monday.

"For the first time ever, students are building across progression from kindergarten all the way through high school," said Shalonda Foster, JCPS Asst. Superintendent of Secondary Academics. "It is anchored in equitable access, so all students, again, have access to grade level instruction, and it supports students and teachers."

Pollio cited audits and reviews from 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022 that stated optimism and support of student performance. He didn't mention the most recent audit that blamed the district and bus route service for the beginning of last school year.

The task force also discussed the district's growing multilingual student population and changes to curriculum.

A change to state law in 2022 allowed the school district's superintendent's to select a school's curriculum meaning districts could streamline what students are learning district-wide.

Before that change to state law, JCPS said school-based decision making councils picked schools curriculums.

This past school year, JCPS started to implement its new kindergarten through eighth grade literacy curriculum.

Lawmakers asked JCPS when results will show if the change is working while citing its low test scores according to state data.

"My concern is we're going to get five years, ten years down the road and be in the same spot because I thought we already were having evidence-based research in our reading," Wurtenberger said.

"We know with any new initiative wise it's three to five years before you see the full impact. However, because of monitoring tools and plans in place, we can already see increases," said Terra Greenwell, JCPS Chief Academic Officer.

JCPS also highlighted its nearly 20,000 multilingual learners, speaking a combined more than 150 languages.

"It is a gift to be multilingual, and the way we look at that is really a mindset shift," Greenwell said. "Whenever you're taking an assessment and trying to learn a new language at the same time, that's not easy."

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