Last Monday, Wayne Lewis, Kentucky’s interim commissioner of education released an audit recommending the state take over Louisville’s public school system. In a summary of the audit findings, which assessed every part of the district's management, Lewis said the district has “deep-seated organization and cultural challenges.”
He wrote: “The current state of JCPS is not the fault of any one leader or group. Instead, under the leadership of many and over a long period of time, serious challenges emerged and in many cases were permitted to fester.”
Lewis continued, writing that the findings of the audit “make it clear that for some time many children in JCPS have neither been protected nor served well.”
You can read WFPL’s coverage of the audit here; additionally, the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting released a story in January that detailed how JCPS’ internal investigations of employee misconduct fell short. The story made public a previously unreleased memo that the Kentucky Department of Education cited in the audit findings.
And, you can read the management audit findings below:
The district has until May 30 to appeal Lewis' recommendation before the 11-member state education board votes on a final decision. The JCPS Board of Education is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, though board member Chris Brady, who represents District Seven, said he hasn’t heard about any changes to the agenda to include discussion about the recommended takeover. He said he is in favor of challenging the state recommendation.
“As an individual board member, I support challenging this decision,” Brady said. “I don’t think JCPS has done anything that warrants state takeover.”
But in the meantime, WFPL wants to know what questions you have about and related to the audit.
Things like: Has this happened in other states before? Who is Wayne Lewis? Where does Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer stand on the audit? What will be discussed in JCPS Board of Education meetings between now and the final decision?
Let us know in the form below:
