JCPS superintendent Brian Yearwood speech about hard decisions
Jefferson County Public Schools held a listening session for the community to hear about how the district made decisions about which school to close.
- Jefferson County Public Schools has reversed a budget cut decision, now targeting mental health practitioners instead of instructional coaches.
- The change has sparked outrage from staff and community members, who view mental health support as essential.
- The Jefferson County Teachers’ Association has organized a protest against the proposed cuts.
Jefferson County Public School leaders have made a last-minute change to proposed budget cuts, swapping reductions in school-based personnel from one group to another.
On Jan. 16, Superintendent Brian Yearwood informed JCPS principals that he now wants to cut schools’ mental health practitioners, rather than their academic instructional coaches, as had been discussed three days prior.
The move has outraged staff and community members who view mental health supports as essential. It was listed among the top priorities families wanted to see protected, according to a review of thousands of responses to a district survey about what cuts should be made to balance JCPS’ books.
Yearwood provided the first glimpse of his proposed $142 million in cuts during a meeting with principals Jan. 13, which quickly led to concerns over the instructional coach positions. Those positions, which Yearwood said are not part of the roughly 300 central office positions he plans to also cut, are filled by experienced teachers who support other teachers through lesson planning and analyzing student data, among other tasks.
Yearwood again included cuts to those positions in a Jan. 14 presentation to the Audit and Risk Management Advisory Committee, showing that reduction would save the district $14 million. Speaking with The Courier Journal after that meeting, Yearwood said the biggest pushback he’d received thus far on the cuts was concerning the coaches.
“I just need to drive home that they will have access to instructional coaches, we are not doing away with them, we are just realigning them,” he said.
During that interview, he also told The Courier Journal there were no plans to make cuts to mental health practitioners. After, however, dozens of principals showed to the Van Hoose Center for a second chance to speak with Yearwood — a meeting that lasted a few hours.
Two days later, Yearwood informed principals their coaching positions would be saved, and instead he would cut the mental health practitioners. The change follows other decisions Yearwood has reconsidered or backtracked on after discussing them publicly, including delaying the hiring of an audit firm, proposing several school closures and recommending a shift in start times.
JCPS spokespeople did not immediately respond to questions about why Yearwood changed his mind over these cuts.
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News that the practitioner positions were on the chopping block came out shortly before the district released the 2026-27 draft budget just before 5 p.m. Jan. 16, ahead of the holiday weekend. In the days since, JCPS staff and community members have flocked to social media to express their discontent over this last-minute change.
The position, JCPS mental health practitioner Randy Arnold wrote on Facebook, “is categorized at JCPS as a student support position. In reality, we are the FRONT LINE in handling many difficult and disturbing situations that children, families and schools face on a weekly, if not daily basis.”
Arnold went on to describe situations he says he and his colleagues have all navigated in their roles, including “when a parent overdoses and the child goes to wake them up from bed the next morning and finds them dead;” “when a little sister is kissed on the forehead by her big brother who goes out to hang out with his friends, and doesn’t come home because he’s been shot;” “when a child with autism has a sensory overload and acts out violently in the classroom;” “when a single mother of three children needs counseling and support services for them, but can’t take them to a therapy session afterschool because she works two jobs;” and “when a school is absolutely crushed by the Suicide of a student, the death of a teacher, or the sudden loss of a family from an overnight fire.”
In each of those situations, Arnold wrote, “We are the front line.”
By being there, he argued, teachers are able to teach rather than serve as a therapist.
The importance of this role was also highlighted in a survey JCPS conducted in preparation for drafting next year’s budget. Conducted in November 2025, the survey drew more than 6,500 responses, which overwhelmingly asked leaders to prioritize protecting mental health supports, according to JCPS’ summary of the results.
A graphic of that summary distributed to staff in December showed classroom instruction, school-based supports, mental health supports and safe, updated buildings as the top priorities among families. Contracted services deemed “essential” by families also included mental health, the graphic shows.
“This input guided every step of the right-sizing process,” the graphic states.
The Jefferson County Teachers’ Association has organized a protest against the move outside Van Hoose ahead of a Jan. 20 Jefferson County Board of Education meeting, where members will discuss the proposed cuts.
View the proposed draft budget below.
Krista Johnson covers education and children. Have story ideas or questions? Contact her [email protected] and subscribe to her newsletter.
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