Jefferson County Schools Slash Budget And Close Campuses

On January 20, 2026, the Jefferson County Board of Education in Louisville, Kentucky, took a series of dramatic steps to confront a looming financial crisis that threatens the stability of the state’s largest school district. Facing a staggering $188 million budget deficit for the 2025-26 school year, the board considered Superintendent Brian Yearwood’s proposal to cut $142 million from the upcoming 2026-27 budget—a plan that includes closing schools, eliminating hundreds of jobs, and reorganizing district leadership.

The meeting, which stretched nearly four hours, was anything but routine. Parents, staff, and community members filled the boardroom, their voices underscoring the real-life impact of the district’s financial woes. Among the most significant and immediate decisions: the board voted to close King Elementary and Zachary Taylor Elementary at the end of the current school year, affecting nearly 600 students. According to The Courier Journal, the closures are expected to save the district about $3 million annually, with the King property slated to be sold for an estimated $800,000 profit. Zachary Taylor Elementary, meanwhile, will serve as a temporary “swing space” during construction at nearby schools.

The closures, though, are just a small piece of a much larger puzzle. Superintendent Yearwood’s sweeping proposal calls for $44 million in cuts from the central office, including the elimination of roughly 300 staff positions. This central office reduction—the largest single line item in the plan—would reorganize district departments and leadership, a move that has been debated for years across political lines. Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican, weighed in on the proposal, noting, “I understand he’s trying to reorganize the central office, which has been a big complaint for years, dating back Republicans and Democrats to Adam Edelen, talking about how overloaded the central office was with staff and salaries.”

Indeed, concerns about central office staffing aren’t new. In 2014, then-State Auditor Adam Edelen, a Democrat, issued a report warning of overstaffing at Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS). “More alarming is that JCPS has three times the number of central department employees with salaries of more than $100,000 compared to one of benchmark districts and the highest average salary,” Edelen wrote at the time. As of January 2026, the district confirmed that 2,554 employees are not assigned to a school, according to Spectrum News 1.

While the central office cuts have attracted political attention, the proposed reductions reach into nearly every corner of the district. The draft budget, outlined by JCPS officials during the January 20 meeting, breaks down as follows: $44 million from the central office, $41 million from school budget funds not directly tied to student instruction, $30 million from ongoing union negotiations (a number that may change), $13 million from operations and transportation, $9 million from contracts and subscriptions, and $5 million from facilities and underutilized assets. The plan also includes a reorganization of the Superintendent’s cabinet, reducing the number of chiefs from 13 to 7, though it’s unclear how much this will save.

For families and students directly affected by the school closures, the district has promised a transition plan that emphasizes school choice and local options. Current King Elementary students can attend Maupin or Kennedy next year, apply to a magnet school, or select another school based on their address. Zachary Taylor students will have the option to apply to magnet schools or choose from six elementary schools within the Ballard cluster. JCPS has said that families from both closing schools will receive priority in the school choice process, aiming to minimize disruption for students.

The board’s actions on January 20 were not limited to approving closures and receiving the draft budget. The meeting opened with an outpouring of concern from staff and parents over proposed cuts to mental health practitioners (MHPs) in schools—a $7.6 million reduction that would have slashed crucial support for students. Superintendent Yearwood had initially targeted academic instructional coaches for cuts, but after hearing from school personnel, he reversed course on January 16 and instead placed MHPs on the chopping block. This late change sparked intense debate.

Board vice chairman James Craig introduced a motion to fully fund mental health practitioners and allow each school to decide whether to fund its own instructional coaches. The motion passed, drawing praise from staff like Western Middle for the Arts principal Nyesha Owens Patterson, who nonetheless warned about the broader effects of the proposed budget. “What is most concerning, however, is that this proposed budget removes the core resources schools need to operate safely and effectively during the school day,” Patterson said, as reported by WHAS11. “We thank you for restoring MHPS, but reducing safety admins, reducing equity funds and eliminating team funding will directly result in the loss of security monitors and teacher positions that are funded through the same streams.” She emphasized that most middle schools would be left without proactive, on-site safety staff, instead relying on just one shared School Resource Officer, even as behavioral and mental health needs among students continue to rise.

The debate over the budget exposed deep divisions on the board. While most members supported the closures and the overall direction of the cuts, not everyone agreed. Board members Tricia Lister and Gail Logan Strange voted against closing King and Zachary Taylor elementary schools. Logan Strange, in particular, voiced concerns about the impact on vulnerable communities. She argued that closing King would create a “school desert” in an area already suffering as a food desert, questioning whether leaders were “holding true to what we said we would do in the Choice Zone.” She added, “Saving funds is being done on the back of the most vulnerable people with the least amount of resources available to them,” and she could not support that approach.

The board’s decision to receive the draft budget is just the beginning of a long process. The tentative budget will be formally adopted in May 2026, with implementation set for July 1. Even after submitting the draft to the Kentucky Department of Education by the January 31 deadline, changes can be made before the final working budget is approved in September.

“I think tonight, we made some really hard decisions about our budget,” board member Taylor Everett of District 7 remarked at the end of the meeting. The sentiment was echoed by many: the road ahead is difficult, and the choices are painful, but the urgency of the district’s financial crisis leaves little room for delay or indecision.

As the process moves forward, the fate of hundreds of jobs, the future of school safety and student support, and the educational trajectories of nearly 100,000 students in Jefferson County hang in the balance. The coming months will reveal whether the district can navigate its financial challenges without sacrificing the quality and equity of public education in Louisville.