The budget cut plan will be made public in January.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Major cuts, including job cuts, are coming to Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS).
Superintendent Dr. Brian Yearwood said Monday that the district’s $132 million in cuts will focus on three main areas: restructuring contracts, reducing central office positions, and closing or consolidating schools.
“The decisions ahead are going to be difficult, because some central office positions will be eliminated,” Yearwood said. “The decisions are complex and consequential, unavoidable.”
The school board is also considering raising funds through potential taxes, including a utility tax, property tax, or nickel tax.
“[That] is a form of property tax, but dedicated specifically for facilities improvement, a nickel would be recallable,” said JCPS Board Member James Craig. “Utilities tax would be recallable, and any raise in the property tax over and above 4% would be recallable.”
If recalled, meaning 5,000 voters signed a petition, the tax would be on the November 2026 ballot for Jefferson County voters.
“We’re not going to continue to fill our classrooms with teachers without something recallable at some point. I don’t know if that’s November 26; it may not be, but at some point in the future, we’re going to have to have it,” Craig said. “We’ve heard of the 160-plus schools in our district. We’re rebuilding 25 of them, but more than half of them are past their useful life, and the community and our children deserve new schools. We’re not going to build new schools in this district without something above and beyond a recallable rate.”
The Task Force is preparing a recommendation for the board but says it can’t make a sound decision until next year’s $100 million-plus budget cuts are released.
Yearwood said the district is 85% complete in finalizing the $132 million reduction plan, which will be given to the board in January.
“It will include a clear and transparent rationale for every major reduction, and it will also serve to prevent future imbalance, because we are redesigning our systems to strengthen fiscal discipline,” Yearwood said.
Once the budget is made public in January, the Task Force has until May to recommend a tax increase to the school board.
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