The Kentucky Senate education committee passed a bill Thursday that would transfer power away from the elected Jefferson County Board of Education toward the district’s recently chosen superintendent.
Senate Bill 1 is making its way through the General Assembly just over a month after the state Supreme Court ruled nearly identical language unconstitutional in a reversal of a previous decision.
“This body, this committee, and the Senate and the House passed Senate Bill 1 in 2022 targeting — in a very positive way — the role of the superintendent and the role of the school board in our largest school district here in Kentucky,” said sponsor GOP Sen. David Givens of Greensburg.
Givens argued the state’s largest district faces unique challenges and therefore needs a different governance structure than other districts: a structure that gives the board less power and oversight over day-to-day affairs and allows the superintendent more overarching authority.
“Hire the best and put them in charge, and give them the authority to make those decisions,” Givens told reporters.
The bill passed with a “yes” vote from all Republicans on the committee, with the two Democrats voting “no.” That was after JCPS board Vice Chair James Craig, Superintendent Brian Yearwood and Jefferson County Teachers Association President Maddie Shepard voiced their strong opposition to the bill.
Yearwood, who would essentially be the beneficiary of greater authority under SB1, said he has a collaborative relationship with the board and has no need for more power.
“It seems that you want to give me more authority, but I'm here to tell you — I shouldn't have it,” Yearwood told the committee.
Yearwood said he does not believe the legislation would bring JCPS any closer to its goals of improving student outcomes.
“This bill is about adults, not students, and that is where our focus should be,” Yearwood said. “This bill is about a power dynamic of the past, and I want to focus on what's ahead, the future of all children in our commonwealth.”
Read the rest at LPM News.
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