By McKenna Horsley, Kentucky Lantern · June 30, 2026

Republican Kentucky Auditor Allison Ball’s office has released findings from its special examination of Jefferson County Public Schools, including the district “lacks a current and cohesive plan that outlines district priorities and goals.”

The GOP-controlled General Assembly directed Ball’s office to conduct the examination of JCPS, the state’s largest public school district, through 2024 legislation. The audit reviewed activities between July 2022 to June 2025. 

“From the highest levels of the district, we see a lack of communication and goal setting; there has been no cohesive plan for several years now,” Ball said in a press release. “And in each working budget report from FY22 to FY26, expenses exceeded revenues. Anyone paying attention could see that JCPS’ financial picture was painted in red and was a roadmap to failure. Given that the School Board approved the maximum property tax increase every year over the last decade, we know it’s a spending, not a revenue, problem.

Other findings in the 503-page report include:

• A fear of retaliation exists in the JCPS culture.
• Since 2016, the Board has approved the maximum allowed property tax increase annually.
• JCPS claims that it has $1.3 billion in unmet facility needs.
• In 2025, approximately 222 teaching positions were vacant. In a survey, nearly half of school-based staff agreed that vacant positions in their school made their jobs harder. School administrators and HR personnel noted delays in the hiring process, which led to hardship in finding qualified candidates for positions.
• Despite receiving $500 million of COVID funds through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER), in FY22, JCPS somehow began running a budget deficit.

One finding highlighted in the auditor’s press release was the district’s operation of a Diversity, Equity, & Poverty, which it said was a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program. The report notes that JCPS was one of two Kentucky school districts to not sign a 2025 compliance form with the U.S. Department of Education to restrict DEI programs in public schools or risk losing federal funding. However, a federal judge ruled in 2025 that the Trump administration could not require public schools to certify they would not use DEI practices. 

“Despite the district losing $9.7 million in grant funding, JCPS continues to put its federal funding in jeopardy by maintaining its use of DEI,” Ball said. “The district needs to assess whether these programs and positions are actually serving the students they are intended for.” 

During the time frame of the audit, former JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio announced he would retire at the end of the 2024-25 school year. The school board selected Brian Yearwood to become the superintendent last summer. 

A spokesperson for JCPS did not immediately return an emailed request for comment Tuesday morning. The audit was published with a response from Yearwood. He said he began his tenure at the district “inheriting an institution in the midst of significant challenges, a $188 million budget deficit, loss of community trust following transportation disruptions, staffing shortages, and a period of organizational instability that had affected the District’s ability to focus on its core mission.” He also noted most of the activities reviewed in the report happened before he joined the district. 

“I must recognize the dedicated men and women of Jefferson County Public Schools, the teachers, counselors, bus drivers, food service workers, administrators, support staff, and countless others who show up every day for nearly 96,000 students,” Yearwood said. “This examination documents real and significant challenges. It also documents a workforce that cares deeply, that is working hard under difficult conditions.”