JCPS board releases district assignments under new state law, approves tentative budget
The Jefferson County Board of Education took major steps Tuesday night toward reducing the JCPS budget deficit, while also giving the district time to renegotiate a new contract with the teachers' union.
Also on the agenda was taking care of business under a new state law.
District leadership said it feels good about its path to eliminating the budget deficit, but the first order of business was to conform to newly enacted Senate Bill 4. It requires the JCPS Board to downsize from seven to five members.
They did this by random draw.
Here are the results of the draw:
- Tricia Lister - District 1
- Corrie Shull - District 2
- James Craig - District 3
- Trevin Bass - District 4
- Gail Logan Strange - District 5
Each member will have to run for re-election in November, and the other two members, Taylor Everett and Linda Duncan, are now at-large. Everett and Duncan's seats will be eliminated when their term ends.
Next, the board approved JCPS' tentative budget, cutting expenses by $115 million.
Interim CFO Thomas Aberli says gradually reducing the district's debt prevented having to make more drastic cuts.
"Getting us straight to zero right away would have been a significantly more disruptive to the instructional environment for kids," he said.
The budget deficit is projected to fall from $188 million to $82 million by the next fiscal year, and should be gone by 2031.
Superintendent Brian Yearwood says a gradual debt reduction will help JCPS reach its academic goals at the same time.
"The horizon is bright," Yearwood said. "And we worked very hard, very long on that budget and reductions. And, you know, we seen the fruits of that labor. And the thing is we want to make sure that our district is stable."
The board also approved a one-year extension to their collective bargaining agreement with the teachers' union, including extra stipends for teachers, paid parental leave, and enhanced medical leave.
Jefferson County Teachers Association president Maddie Shepard says this is a start, but they need more.
"We did the contract extension to put us in a position to bargain much sooner than a full contract, and hope for the district to be in a better financial position in two years," Shepard said.
Yearwood said he wishes the district could do more, but the deficit is creating restrictions.
The collective bargaining agreement also opens salary renegotiations when the contract ends next year.
Yearwood was also asked about the possibility of raising taxes. He said the district's priority needs to be rebuilding community trust first.
