Jefferson County Public Schools could eliminate hundreds of positions and cut major investments under a proposal from Superintendent Brian Yearwood.
The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting obtained slide decks outlining the proposed reductions that were presented during a principals’ meeting Tuesday.
According to the slides, Yearwood plans to propose $142 million in cuts. The plan would save $44 million by eliminating 300 positions described as central office staff. Another $41 million would come from cutting supplemental and add-on funding for schools, while an additional $30 million would be generated through “potential cuts pending negotiations.”
The proposal was developed behind closed doors and first shared with the Jefferson County Board of Education in December. JCPS denied a KyCIR request for the materials at that time, stating the proposal was still preliminary.
Yearwood has said the district must make deep reductions to address a budget shortfall he has estimated at $188 million. That figure surprised board members when staff presented financial data in September. Under former superintendent Marty Pollio, the projected shortfall had been estimated at $150 million over two years. Pollio retired at the end of June.
Yearwood presented the plan to principals one week ahead of a scheduled Jan. 20 board vote on the proposed cuts.
The figures shared Tuesday include:
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$44 million from central office staff reductions and reorganization, eliminating 300 positions
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$41 million from supplemental and add-on programs
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$30 million from other potential cuts pending negotiations
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$13 million from operations and transportation
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$9 million from contracts and subscriptions
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$5 million from facilities and underutilized assets
Cuts to supplemental funding raised concerns among some administrators, according to a principal who spoke with KyCIR. The principal was not identified because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the proposal.
The plan would remove $18 million from the Needs Index, a funding formula that provides additional resources to schools serving higher percentages of low-income students and students of color. More than $3 million in funding for multilingual students, a rapidly growing population in JCPS, would also be eliminated.
The administrator said she was especially worried about $14 million in proposed cuts to Academic Instructional Coaches. These coaches often oversee required student testing, analyze results, and help improve instructional strategies. They also play a critical role in supporting inexperienced and emergency-certified teachers amid a nationwide teacher shortage. She said many principals were frustrated that they were not consulted during the budget process.
“Our voice was not invited to the table,” the principal said. “We could have front-loaded some of this information, proposed possible solutions that would still get you your budget cuts — and probably even more — but be less disruptive to school operations.”
She also questioned whether the 300 positions labeled as central office roles would truly shield schools from staffing reductions, noting that positions such as Academic Instructional Coaches are technically classified as central office despite being school-based.
Yearwood said cuts to Academic Instructional Coaches and school safety administrator positions are not included in the 300 central office reductions.
The proposal also includes $9 million in cuts to materials intended to support the district’s developing curriculum, an initiative former superintendent Pollio cited as a major achievement.
Yearwood later presented the proposal to the Audit and Risk Management Advisory Committee on Wednesday. He said the plan revives efforts to close or consolidate several schools.
Additional proposed cuts include:
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$3 million from high school career programs
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$2.57 million from elementary bookkeepers and high school clerks
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$3.02 million from school safety administrators
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$4 million from state agency schools
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A five-day reduction in time and pay for 260-day employees, saving $2.68 million
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$4 million from long-term leave substitute incentive pay
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Reductions in stipends for bus drivers
Yearwood said some savings depend on negotiations with employees’ unions, including potential reductions to cost-of-living increases and stipends for working in high-needs schools.
“This is a very difficult time,” Yearwood said. “But we have to keep the 93,000 students in mind with our decisions going forward.”
Responding to concerns that school-based staff felt excluded from the process, Yearwood said the district conducted a survey that received 6,000 responses.
“Number one from that survey says we need to reduce central office staff, and we did that,” he said. “Number two was to preserve the instructional environment in the classrooms, and we did that as well.”
Jefferson County Teachers Association President Maddie Shepard declined to comment, citing ongoing contract negotiations.
The presentation included a streamlined organizational chart for district leadership. In a draft 2026–27 budget presentation, JCPS Chief Financial Officer Eddie Muns described the proposal as the “most responsible budget we’ve submitted in a number of years.” Muns has worked for the district since 2001 and became CFO in 2023.
Yearwood said Muns would not be considered for a newly proposed Chief Business Officer position and that the CFO will leave his role in July.
JCPS published a webpage late Wednesday with limited information about the proposal but has not yet released full details. The slide decks presented by Muns and Yearwood provide a more detailed breakdown of the proposed cuts.
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