During the JCPS Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, April 8, board members reviewed the Evidence of Learning Checks, self-evaluated, heard updates on the search for a new superintendent and responded to community concerns. Board members meet once every month to discuss a variety of issues spanning from budget discussions to policy decisions.
Superintendent search progress
Current Superintendent, Dr. Marty Pollio, is set to retire at the end of the 24-25 school year.
The board mentioned their progress in the new superintendent search, noting that they had received 38 applicants. Members will examine applications mid-April and narrow the pool to the five strongest candidates, with interview criteria goals set for April 14.
Interim goal monitoring
Dr. Pollio outlined the new interim goals monitoring process. JCPS is piloting evidence of learning checks (ELC) in over 20 schools, ranging from Elementary to Middle Schools, featuring eight to ten Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA)-style questions that focus on assessing both student skills and knowledge.
Early teacher and staff feedback has been positive, noting their benefit in guiding targeted instructional strategies, as well as their appreciation of the teachers’ involvement in the pilot phase has opened important channels for feedback.
“The other thing we appreciated was the KSA style format of the questions… having the opportunity, 3 times in a year, to see KSA style questions really helps prepare them for that, especially for our 3rd graders who this is their first time taking KSA in the Spring, so it won’t be a big surprise to them,” said Greenwood Elementary Principal Joy Billops.
Board self-evaluation
Greg Klein of the Council of Great City Schools (GCGS) visited to assist with the board’s Q1 2025 self-evaluation, concentrated on “Student Outcomes Focused Governance”. These board self evaluations aim to help score the decision-making that the Board of Education makes for JCPS. The self-evaluations facilitated by the GCGS also act as a great watchdog on the board, assigning high point-values for effectively monitoring, introducing and acting upon the goals set over the span of a year.
The board scored 70 out of 100, with some points lost in specific methods of tracking time, limiting board meeting duration and the amount of time allotted to focus on specific items. This score does not signify a failure, just a comparison of what would be considered the very best.
Board member James Craig acknowledged that the board is still weighing whether to utilize this method moving forward.
“I’ll emphasize that we haven’t had serious consideration of whether or not these are metrics that we want to follow,” Craig said.
Community input
At the end of the board meeting, community members were given the opportunity to share their opinions and concerns with the board. Custodian and plant operators across the district from SEIU 32BJ came together and raised their concerns over a potential $7,000 annual pay cut tied to the discontinuation of a federal funding program that provided an additional $3.50 per hour.
In response, Dr. Polio and the rest of the board thanked them all for their critical service to keeping schools safe and clean, and gave them some relief.
“The great news is the $3.50 differential stipend per hour is included in our budget for next year,” Polio said, to great applause. “You all deserve it.”
