It is governed by an elected seven-member Board of Education, which selects and hires a superintendent, who serves as the system's chief executive.
The current board members are (in order of district number) Diane Porter, Dr. Chris Kolb, James Craig, Joseph Marshall, Linda Duncan, Rev.
[5][6] The board was very proactive in year 2011 and into 2012 regarding the request for a curriculum management audit, and work on a much needed strategic plan.
After a few years, the state granted half of the property of the Jefferson Seminary for use in constructing a "High School College."
In 1884, a state Board of Education was created and a county superintendent elected by popular vote to replace the appointed commissioner.
In 1920 21 22 23 24 25, the County Administration Law was passed by state legislature, requiring the appointment of the superintendent by the Board of Education.
In 1971, several civil rights organizations filed a lawsuit asking that the Louisville, Jefferson County, and Anchorage school systems be merged.
A merger and desegregation plan was created, which included mandatory busing and racial guidelines for school assignments.
On June 10, 1999, U.S. District Judge John Heyburn II ruled that the 1975 desegregation order was not dissolved in 1978 when court supervision ended.
In 2002, Crystal Meredith filed a lawsuit on behalf of her son, who she claimed was denied enrollment in a school because of race.
The purpose was to maintain diversity with the thought the U.S. Supreme Court might strike the then current plan based upon race alone.
In June 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, holding that the school district plans in Louisville and Seattle violated constitutional guarantees of equal protection, and race could not be the only factor to consider.
Hargens was previously the chief academic officer for the Wake County Public Schools in North Carolina.
[citation needed] The current superintendent is Dr. Marty Pollio, who is the former principal at Doss and Jeffersontown high schools.
Pollio was named acting superintendent in July 2017 when Hargens resigned amidst a great deal of public pressure.
[9] When a Louisville man sought to attend a public Jefferson County Board of Education (JCBE) board meeting at a Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) building during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky in August 2022, officers asked him to put on a mask, and the man refused.
"[12] JCBE argues that at the time, masks were required to enter the building, not the meeting itself, as part of the board's July 2022 Health Guidance Plan, which requires that when community spread of COVID-19 is ranked "high" in Jefferson County (which it was at the time), masks must be worn to enter JCPS property.
[10][13] The man had previously filed unsuccessful claims against the Board alleged that among other things it had violated the Nuremberg Code by "participating in human experimentation, and "sexually exploited minors.
On August 9—the first day of school—students initially faced delays in the morning of up to an hour after the final bus transfer was supposed to happen alongside some reports of students being dropped off at the wrong school.
[16] This program includes a revamped Math and Science curriculum in a holistic K-12 approach involving the superintendent, the board of education and the teachers' union.