Records show JCPS knew about spoiled milk nearly a week before alerting parents

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Internal records show Jefferson County Public Schools knew about spoiled milk being served to students nearly a week before families were told — and at first, the district claimed no students drank it. Emails prove that wasn’t true.

WDRB obtained documents detailing dozens of complaints from cafeteria staff across at least a dozen schools between Aug. 14 and Aug. 21. The issues ranged from mold inside cartons to sour smells, curdling and even milk with no expiration dates.

Here’s what the records show:

Aug. 14 — Stonestreet Elementary: Staff reported mold inside Prairie Farms skim milk cartons expiring 8/31/25. Photos included in the complaint show spots of mold inside.
Aug. 14 — Seneca High & Goldsmith Elementary: Students reported milk tasted sour.
Aug. 18 — Coral Ridge Elementary: Several students complained chocolate milk tasted “funny.” A staff member agreed, describing it as “almost like shelf-stable milk.”
Aug. 19 — Gutermuth Elementary: Students complained milk smelled and tasted sour.
Aug. 19 — Seneca High: Staff reported cartons of Prairie Farms fat-free milk were curdled.
Aug. 19 — Bates Elementary: Staff described milk dated 8/30 and 9/11 as curdling with a bad smell.
Aug. 19 — Camp Taylor Elementary: Milk dated 8/25 “smelled and tasted awful,” according to staff, after multiple students complained.
Aug. 20 — Mill Creek Elementary: Staff reported curdled chocolate milk, with puffy boxes and clumps visible in photos.
Aug. 20 — Rangeland Elementary: Staff received skim milk with no printed expiration dates. When asked, the delivery driver said, “That’s just how we do it.”
Aug. 20 — Chancey Elementary: Milk cartons were reported curdled and sour. Staff said the delivery driver dropped off milk after the kitchen staff had already left.
Aug. 20 — Fairdale Elementary: Students, the principal, custodian, and cafeteria staff all reported chocolate milk that smelled sour.
Aug. 21 — Male High School: Staff placed milk on hold after students complained it smelled and tasted sour.

Despite those reports, JCPS did not notify parents until Aug. 20. In its first letter, the district said the issue was discovered during routine quality checks and that no students had consumed the milk.

When pressed Thursday, Superintendent Dr. Brian Yearwood admitted the district should have acted faster.

“That shouldn’t have happened,” Yearwood said. “The minute we find out there’s a problem, we should notify parents immediately. Going forward, I know that’s not going to happen again.”

Later on Aug. 20, JCPS walked back its statement, acknowledging that some students had complained their milk “tasted funny” at breakfast and lunch.

Thursday, when asked why the district initially told parents no students drank the bad milk, Dr. Yearwood said he believed they "didn’t have the information at the time that was being reported."

JCPS’s supplier, Prairie Farms, has since blamed the issue on “extreme temperatures, extended delivery times, and storage challenges.”

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