State lawmakers promise scrutiny on JCPS budget problems
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The JCPS $188 million budget deficit will soon bring the district more attention from the often-critical Republican-dominated legislature.
And they are not alone.
“I think one of the biggest issues we have to deal with is the finances and the people that are handling the finances of our two biggest public school systems,” Senate President Robert Stivers said Wednesday at a Senate Republican leadership retreat in Bardstown.
The Senate’s leading Republican did not hide his concern about the finances of both Jefferson County and Fayette County schools.
Stivers said the two districts represent 20% of Kentucky public school students.
But his comments suggested they are about to receive the legislature’s full attention.
“They’ve got some real problems,” Stivers said. “And they have some real confidence problems by the general public in both Fayette County and Jefferson County.”
Stivers’ remarks came as the Senate Republican leadership plots its course for the legislative session beginning January 6.
It is a budget-making year that will almost certainly include pointed questions about:
- How a $16 million shortfall plunged Fayette County schools into a series of external audits.
- How JCPS, the state’s largest system, was managed into a hole of $188 million.
“We’re not going to have a closer eye,” Stivers said. “We already have a very close eye on how both those systems are performing.”
JCPS administration declined to comment.
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