Members of the Jefferson County Board of Education approved the closure of two elementary schools at the end of the current school year, a move aimed at slightly reducing the district’s ongoing budget deficit.
King and Zachary Taylor elementary schools, which together serve nearly 600 students, will close after all but two board members voted in favor of the decision during a Jan. 20 meeting. The board also approved relocating Liberty High from its current Atkinson Square Drive location to the Male High campus.
Board members Tricia Lister and Gail Logan Strange voted against the closures, while board member Trevin Bass abstained.
Logan Strange said closing King would create a school desert in an area already dealing with food insecurity. She also questioned whether district leaders were “holding true to what we said we would do in the Choice Zone.”
She added that saving money in this way comes “on the back of the most vulnerable people with the least amount of resources available to them,” a decision she said she could not support.
Jefferson County Public Schools leaders cited low enrollment as the main reason for closing both schools, even though several other JCPS schools are also operating below capacity.
According to a JCPS presentation to board members, current King students will be able to attend Maupin or Kennedy next year, apply to a magnet school, or choose another option farther from home based on their address.
Zachary Taylor students may also apply to a magnet school or select from six elementary schools within the Ballard cluster, the presentation shows.
Chief Operations Officer Rob Fulk previously said the closures will save JCPS about $3 million each year. After closing, the district plans to sell the King property, which Fulk estimated could generate about $800,000 in profit. Zachary Taylor is expected to be used as a swing space while construction is completed at nearby schools.
The closures are part of Superintendent Brian Yearwood’s proposed $142 million in budget cuts, outlined in a draft budget discussed during the Jan. 20 meeting.
Board members voted to accept the draft budget in order to submit it to the Kentucky Department of Education by the Jan. 31 deadline. Officials noted that changes can still be made before a tentative budget vote in May and a final working budget vote in September.
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