FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Kentucky House education committee heard fiery testimony Tuesday from Louisville education leaders and community activists worried that a House resolution establishing a task force to oversee Jefferson County Public Schools will inject politics into the state's largest local school system.

House Concurrent Resolution 81 would create the Efficient and Effective School District Governance Task Force and target school districts with enrollment greater than 75,000 students, which only qualifies JCPS in the state of Kentucky. First introduced Feb. 12 with support from the state's Republican lawmakers, the resolution calls for a review of JCPS's performance and a look at how other states have created new school districts.

"We need to monitor the governance of JCPS, particularly the board, when it comes to effectiveness and efficiency," said Rep. Kevin Fleming, R-Louisville, who sponsored the resolution in the House.

As the resolution is currently drafted, the task force would include:

  • Two members of the House of Representatives apportioned by the Speaker of the House
  • Two members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate
  • One member of the House of Representatives appointed by the Minority Floor Leader of the House
  • One member of the Senate to be appointed by the Minority Floor leader of the Senate
  • State Auditor or a designee
  • City's Mayor or designee
  • LRC appointed members: 
    • Two county taxpayers not affiliated with the district
    • Two members with experience in finance, management, and operations of large businesses that operate in Kentucky 
    • One teacher employed by district with five years experience

Fleming said the task force would be directed to review 17 different areas, including funding, district boundaries, personnel, athletics, racial makeup and more.

The resolution never directly names JCPS, but opponents said it's a clear attack on Kentucky's largest district and would affect Black and brown students the most.

"This resolution is flawed, racist and classist and just wrong," Michele Patrick, education chair of the Louisville NAACP, testified Tuesday in Frankfort. "Our most vulnerable are prey to the most vicious kinds of politics that harms children and families in our communities."

Andrea Hines, who has seven grandchildren who are all current JCPS students, said Tuesday she believes if a task force is created, parents, ministers, coaches and teachers needs to be on it, too.

"I went out (to school in) the south end and I lived in the west end and I also went to schools in the west end," Hines said. "So I got to experience both sides, in all cultures and I felt like they shouldn't split it up. If you just have all the kids in the west end go to the schools in the west end and then all the kids in the east end go to school in the east, I feel like they like it's gonna mess up the culture."

First introduced Feb. 12 with support from the state's Republican lawmakers, the resolution calls for a review JCPS's performance and a look at how other states have created new school districts.

The focus on Louisville's public school system stems from its difficult start to the 2023-24 school year, and the failed rollout of a new busing system that led to six days of school being canceled. A group of Kentucky House Republicans sent an open letter to JCPS students, parents and teachers after the first day of school, calling the massive bus issues an "epic failure," and said the district "failed in its most fundamental obligation, which is to keep our kids safe."

JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio told the House committee Tuesday that legislators should focus on the three major issues facing school districts instead: teacher vacancies, bus driver vacancies and student absenteeism. He continued that message at Tuesday night's board meeting.

"We cannot be successful across this state unless students are in school, and this is not just a JCPS," Pollio said. "These are issues that are in every district in the state."

Pollio said it would be "absolute devastation" to break up the district, with the biggest impact on marginalized communities.

A district spokesperson said earlier his month that the task force is "stacked in a way to come to a pre-ordained conclusion, that is, to split up JCPS.

"Dr. Pollio, and anyone who truly understands education governance, is excluded from the task force, and that says it all."

On Tuesday, the committee passed an amendment which would allow Pollio to appoint three members to the 13-member task force. The resolution now goes on to the full House.

As the state weighs options for the future of the district, JCPS is set for an important vote in three weeks. The school board is expected to decide on next year's transportation model.

JCPS is looking for ways to navigate the bus driver shortage, and the district has said the only option next year that would reduce the number of routes needed is cutting transportation for traditional and magnet school students.

Out of nearly 65,000 students taking the bus, about one-fourth of them attend magnet or traditional schools.

At Tuesday's board meeting, three Central High School students expressed concerns saying that if busing ends for them they'd have to go to another school.

Ava Williams is a sophomore at Central who went there for the specific magnet program focused on education. She said the school has been a perfect fit, but she can't get there without a bus.

"By not being able to attend Central, I would have to form new connections and relationships halfway through my high school career," Williams said. "The connections I would have built so far would see to be a waste."

Pollio told WDRB News last month that they want to try to mitigate the impact of that potential decision, but "we have the resources we have."

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