After educator outcry, JCPS to revisit idea to change start times at alternative schools

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jefferson County Public Schools quickly walked back a proposal to test later school start times at a handful of alternative schools after fury from educators and students.

District officials had been gathering feedback on a plan to move Breckinridge Metro, Minor Daniels, Waller-Williams, Churchill Park and Georgia Chaffee TAPP to a school day that would begin at 9:55 a.m. and stretches past 4 p.m. 

That plan is being scrapped and JCPS is "going back to the drawing board" after receiving abysmal reviews from those in the schools, Superintendent Marty Pollio said Tuesday.

Starting and ending the day so late would likely force students at Georgia Chaffee TAPP, which serves teen moms, to choose between school and working to provide for their families, teachers told The Courier Journal. 

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"It's a choice of diapers and food for their children," Brian Ray, a Georgia Chaffee TAPP teacher, told board members Tuesday night.

Educators also felt their schools, which serve some of the district's most at-risk students, were targeted by the plan. 

"I really believe they are using our school as a test school because our students are not deemed as important by JCPS as students from a regular high school," a staffer at Georgia Chaffee TAPP wrote. 

In discussing the plan during Tuesday night's school board meeting, board members noted they had received several emails from teachers and students criticizing the proposal.

"I have not received a positive email," chairwoman Diane Porter said. 

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JCPS has wanted to adjust school start times, partially in an attempt to address high chronic absenteeism rates. The initial pilot schools have some of the highest chronic absenteeism rates in the district.

Teachers said there's a reason for that. Ray, the TAPP teacher, pointed out students at his school may miss weeks after giving birth. That would meet the criteria for being chronically absent — more than 10 missed days in a year — but not for the reasons other schools may see, he said.

Pollio said he plans to bring a revised version of the school start time proposal to the board in the coming months.

Reach Olivia Krauth at okrauth@courierjournal.com and on Twitter at @oliviakrauth.