Today, May 13, JCPS held their final Board of Education meeting of the active school year, where board members announced their cell phone ban, updates on the search for a new superintendent and discussed their budget plans. Board members meet once every month to discuss a variety of issues spanning from budget discussions to policy decisions.
Cell phone ban passes
Middle and high school students across JCPS have been facing the reality of a stricter cell phone policy district-wide, as state legislators have followed a national push for greater restrictions on phone use in the classroom. Kentucky legislators passed HB 208 in March, which placed a ban on the use of cell phones in schools.
Late last year, surveys were sent out to staff, students and parents, along with a separate survey for school principals.
Students and parents showed a great interest in Option 1, which would be a more favorable ban as phones would still be available during non-instructional portions of the school day. Educators favored Option 3, a complete ban of school phones during the entire school day.
The recommendation from Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio was to ban cell phones during the school day. All board members, excluding Linda Duncan of District 3, voted in favor of Option 3, banning cell phones. The new policy is set to go into effect starting in the 25-26 school year.
“I just want to remind everybody that a ban that is poorly enforced is not a ban, don’t fool yourself, it has to be well enforced for it to be a ban,” Duncan stressed.
Superintendent search reaches two finalists
After Superintendent Dr. Pollio announced his resignation on Sept. 27, 2024, the start of the superintendent search process began.
Board members have announced that they had narrowed down their list of 38 applicants down to just two top candidates, Ben Shuldiner and Dr. H. Brian Yearwood. Both of these candidates have had successful superintendent experience, though there are concerns over the size differences of their respective counties and that of JCPS, which provides for nearly 100,000 students.
Finalists will be interviewed again on May 19. On May 22, the board will hold Q&A sessions at the JCPS Center for Professional Learning and at Stopher Elementary School.
Superintendent Dr. Pollio to be 10th President of Ivy Tech Community College
The board congratulated Dr. Pollio on being named President of one of Indiana’s largest postsecondary institutions, Ivy Tech Community College. He succeeds Dr. Sue Ellspermann, who announced her retirement in June 2024, three months prior to Dr. Pollio’s resignation announcement.
Tentative Budget for 2026 discussed
The board reviewed their progress in maintaining a more balanced yearly budget with their losses in federal funding from both COVID-era funding and recent losses as a result of their approval of DEI programs in schools. Because of these losses in federal funding, they’ve implemented budget cuts over this entire school year, in which they’ve reduced their budget by $99.1 million.
Even with this massive budget cut, they’ve retained $29.8 million in Racial Equity Funds for schools and $11.1 million for Mental Health Practitioners, along with maintaining stipends to all employees that currently benefit from them during the 24-25 school year.
Board members also announced that they plan to cut an additional $150 million from their budget over the next two years to remain at a safe balance according to state law. These budget cuts will start in the 25-26 school year, and wrap up in the 26-27 school year, and although board members aim to have the least impact on students’ learning experiences with these budget cuts, a $150 million loss in funding will be a noticeable one for students, parents and staff alike across the 166 schools JCPS heads.
The next JCPS Board meeting will be held during the 2025-26 school year, the schedule for which has not yet been released.
