FRANKFORT — Kentucky Supreme Court Justices heard oral arguments Wednesday morning in a case that could determine if the board of the state’s largest school district is subject to a law aimed at curbing the board’s powers.
The 2022 legislation at the center of the case is aimed at changing the relationship of the Jefferson County Public Schools board and its superintendent. Senate Bill 1, backed by Republican lawmakers, had a host of administrative and academic changes, including provisions directed at the management of JCPS.
While JCPS is not named in the legislation, an appellate court last year found that the law would only apply “in a county school district with a consolidated local government,” and cited Section 59 of the state Constitution. “The only school district which meets this description is that of Jefferson County,” the opinion stated.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Matthew Kuhn, solicitor general in the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, argued that because the law focuses on a class of counties with a “consolidated local government,” the law was not special legislation, as that class can change as local governments evolve and can then be subject to the law. However, David Tachau, an attorney representing the board, countered that the law at present applies to a particular school district — JCPS — and is a violation of the state’s constitution.
Justice Kelly Thompson, who represents the 2nd Supreme Court District, said while questioning Tachau: “This is not just a ‘locale,’ which I believe it violates 59, but … this is direct legislative interference, directly to the school,” referring to the section of the Kentucky Constitution that says the General Assembly “shall not pass local or special acts,” including related to the management of public schools.
Thompson added that agencies like the Department of Education can also provide due process to school boards and give powers before he asked for examples of other statutes that direct boards to give superintendents more powers. Tachau said he was not aware of any such other statutes.
Parts of the law affect all Kentucky schools
The JCPS board immediately challenged the law after the General Assembly passed it. In October, the Kentucky Court of Appeals ruled that the law was unconstitutional, saying it singled out JCPS for special treatment. At the time, the Attorney General’s Office, then led by Republican Daniel Cameron, said it planned to appeal the decision.
In front of the Supreme Court, Kuhn said that while only Jefferson County fits into the class of localities with a consolidated local government, the class is not closed to just that county in the future.
“Senate Bill 1 does not apply to a particular locality, but to an open class of localities,” Kuhn said.
Parts of the law that would affect JCPS included limiting meetings of the board to once every four weeks, assigning broader power to the superintendent, requiring a two-thirds vote of the board to overrule any action of the superintendent and requiring the board to let the superintendent authorize purchases up to $250,000.
However, some sections of the law would affect curriculum in all Kentucky schools. The law established guidelines on addressing controversial topics related to public policy or social affairs. It also required schools to teach about 24 historical documents, many of which were already taught, like the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, but added what some considered more political documents such as former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s 1964 speech, “A Time for Choosing,” which elevated his future in the GOP and is widely considered to have re-energized the Republican Party.
Justices also asked several questions about the legal standing of the parties in the case. In lower courts, the Attorney General’s Office argued that the board did not have standing in the case because the superintendent, Marty Polio, was not named as a party in the case, but Kentucky’s education commissioner was.
Thompson asked Tachau if the court “kick(s) the can down the road,” would the case come back to it. Tachau said some members of the board would likely still be interested in challenging the case.
Attorney General Russell Coleman said in a statement after oral arguments that the “General Assembly took strong action to advance these goals, and our Office has defended this law all the way to the Commonwealth’s highest court.”
“Every Kentucky student – from the largest school system to the most rural – deserves a quality education. Hardworking teachers also deserve the support of an administration empowered to lead a large and complex organization,” he said.
Republicans in Frankfort have been looking to increase oversight of the management of JCPS. This interim session, a legislative task force has meetings scheduled to examine the school district’s governance and is made of politicians and citizen members. Any recommendations from the group must be submitted to the Legislative Research Commission by Dec. 1, ahead of the 2025 legislative session.
Created by a House resolution, the group must review school districts with enrollment above 75,000 students. JCPS is the only one in the state that meets that criteria with an enrollment of almost 94,000 students.
Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter said the court will render an opinion in the case as soon as possible.
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Written by McKenna Horsley. Cross-posted from the Kentucky Lantern.
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