School board election szn begins
Hey, Louisville subscribers: Swing by the Western library branch at 6 p.m. Tuesday for The Courier Journal’s first school board candidate forum.
Candidates vying to represent the West End, downtown and parts of Old Louisville will answer questions from me and the audience. What should I ask the candidates? Email your ideas to okrauth@gannett.com.
AG to JCPS: Plz stop
Last week’s episode of "The Bachelor: JCPS Mask Mandate Edition" ended on a cliffhanger. Would the JCPS school board be successful in its quest to end its mask requirement?
No, it was not successful. Board member James Craig, as promised, made a motion minutes into last Tuesday’s school board meeting to amend the agenda to include a discussion and potential vote on the district’s COVID-19 policies. The motion to even talk about the situation failed, with Craig, Linda Duncan and Sarah McIntosh voting yes.
To amp up the drama, this happened less than an hour after Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office implored JCPS to end its mask mandate.
Cameron’s office said it is looking into the legality of the district’s mask policy, which follows CDC guidance. As you may recall, state lawmakers gave local school boards authority over their mask policies in September 2021.
A spokeswoman for Cameron said that authority is not limitless, though. The 2021 law doesn’t appear to come with restrictions, and a bill to ban local entities from implementing mask policies failed to pass in the 2022 regular session.
A few days later, gubernatorial candidate Cameron campaigned on his office’s investigation. This also happened a little more than a week after Cameron decided to appeal a court ruling that found a state law targeting the authority of the JCPS board was unconstitutional.
JCPS still seems to be the sole Kentucky district requiring masks, although some districts are starting to eye their pile of NTI days as COVID-19 cases climb. Wolfe County, for example, is watching attendance dwindle but has yet to require masks.
Mask waiver restrictions tightened
Looking to get your JCPS student a medical mask waiver? Best of luck.
Parents and teachers recently started circulating the name of a local acupuncturist — yes, I am serious — who was willing to sign off on mask waivers for anyone who wanted one, regardless of their affinity for acupuncture or if they were a customer.
When a local reporter (ahem) started asking questions, it quickly became clear JCPS was accepting signed waivers from just about any medical or mental health-adjacent person. So, when an acupuncturist with a degree in naturopathic medicine signed forms as “Dr.” it wasn’t questioned.
JCPS quickly changed its tune. It now only accepts forms from physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. It also took down a blank waiver from the JCPS website, instead telling parents they need to pick up one in-person at their kid’s school.
Special session watch 👀
Gov. Andy Beshear is expected to call a special legislative session in the next two weeks to discuss relief for parts of Eastern Kentucky devastated by recent flooding.
Expect support for local school districts to be a major theme. Eastern Kentucky districts are still in cleanup mode and will need help getting schools ready to safely reopen.
Their Western Kentucky counterparts, months after December’s deadly tornadoes, want lawmakers to consider long-term funding stabilization for both areas of the state to accommodate property tax losses and enrollment drops.
Your homework
Send me those school board forum questions and make plans to be there! (Or watch a live-stream on The Courier Journal’s website.)
OK, bye.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: School board election szn begins
