Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Morning seven five News Radio a for the e w
HS Marty Pollio. Joining us here this morning the the
Jeffson County Public School Superintendent Marty. Good morning, first of all,
and uh, how's the health around JCPS?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey, Tony, It's great to be with you again today.
Excuse me speaking of that. No, you know, it has improved.
We won't really know until we see numbers today, but
there is no doubt I think that the last last
five days, including the weekend, have helped. But our numbers
were pretty significant, both staff and students from mid last week,
(00:34):
so we'll see. Uh, you know, we obviously check call
ins and those things last night, so it seemed much
better before we came back to school, So we'll see
today what the what the attendance is for both staff
and students.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Obviously COVID got us into this, uh what do we
call now NTI situation? How has that progressed over the
last four years or so?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, So it's interesting because NTI was it's been around
since the legislature passed it in the early twenty tens
for mostly rural districts around the state, so JCPS never
used it prior to COVID, but because we did not
have to cancel school very often, but some of your
rural counties out in Kentucky might have to cancel ten, twelve,
(01:23):
fifteen days a year. And so that the legislature gave
non traditional instruction days to provide that clearly, in a
positive way, COVID helped us be able to teach and
learn better. When it comes to remote learning, it's still
not the same, and I'm the first to say that,
and that's why I never liked to use or minimize
(01:43):
as many days as we possibly can. But it definitely
COVID allowed us to figure out ways to do that better.
Where teachers communicate with kids through their laptops and other means,
you know, Google Classroom and things like that, and so
we try to use those instead of adding days on
to the end. You know, that's a balance that we
(02:05):
always have to face, is I want to get kids
in face to face instructional days as many days as
we possibly can. But on the same sense too, so
when you get into late May and early June and
things like that, the attendance dips dramatically for students, and
so you know, keeping that final day as close to
Memorial Day as possible while still maximizing learning being number
(02:26):
one for us.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
As far as what we've seen from the Department of Education,
we don't know if there's going to be cuts, if
it's going to be eliminated, those kind of things. We've
had this discussion in a way, but there's a tune
of about almost a billion dollars, eight hundred and eighty
one dollars. What are your concerns, if any, regarding that.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, I mean, I think every superintendent, you know, whether
it's me, large city superintendents or suburban superintendents, are rural superintendents,
I mean, are all our budgets are all dependent highly
on federal funds. And I want to say our budgets
they're very limited in going to students. So very little
of our federal funds fund anything other than direct student services,
(03:15):
which include mostly special education services for all our special
education kids. That's the number one expenditure from federal funds.
And so, I mean, clearly when and there's a lot
of federal laws around how you have to continue funding
at a certain level and can't cut funding a special
education rightfully. So and so you know that that is
(03:36):
a huge expenditure for every single district in the nation,
which it funds every special ed kid to a certain level. Secondarily,
I think what we call Title one funds, which are
funds that go to schools and districts with the most
disadvantaged students economically and without a doubt, I mean that's
that's every single school district in this commonwealth or receiving
(03:59):
Title one funds, so that are earmarked specifically and you
can only do certain things with them. So I think,
you know, there's a whole lot of other grants out there,
Tony that we would talk about, but I think those
two and then obviously nutrition services feeding our kids. Without
those three things, we would I mean, every single every
single district would struggle. So it's not like an urban
(04:22):
thing or it's not, it's it's every single district. So
you know, my number one thing would be how those
funds would be earmarked. I'm confident they would still come.
It would just be a matter of would they be
blocked to the state, and then the state decides how
they're distributed or would it be in some other mechanism
or some other federal office. So I think all of
us at the at the local superintendent level, that that
(04:44):
is the biggest concern when we look at the Department
of Education.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
We'll talk some more with doctor Marty Polio here on
news radio A forty w h as Marty Polio joining
us this morning of the superintendent of Jefferson County Public School, Marty,
I appreciate you your time this morning. Let's talk a
little bit about school safety. We've seen another fight in
Doss High School. You know, we're in a violent society.
(05:10):
It's not just school. It's kind of a microcosm the
school is to what we see with people that just
get in fights and shoot, try to shoot each other
when they have a collision or something with a car.
I mean, I don't know how you handle this kind
of thing, But can you tell us anything about what
we're seeing and what other precautions you're trying to take
(05:32):
here with school safety?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, and I mean I'm really proud of of the
measures we've taken for school safety when it comes to
district wide. I mean, from weapons detection to our own
police force, food now has fifty five officers. I'm really
just really proud of that work and the things that
are happening and the supports for kids. But when you
have a district of our size, and you know, things
(05:57):
are going to happen at times. So overall, you know,
a lot of our data over especially over the past
two or three years, has very much declined when it
comes to the type of behaviors that are aggressive, fighting,
those type of things. So we've seen a significant decline
in that. However, you know that that is one area,
you know, Doss that we've seen some problems. They do
(06:19):
have some you know, we had a new student assignment
zone for them, you know, which a lot of times
means you know, new kids coming together. So you know
that I think is a part of it. But you know,
I think the biggest, the biggest part of it is
in today's world. And you know, I've been in j
CPS and public education for thirty years. It was unfortunately
(06:41):
a part of my career for thirty years as a principal,
and and you know, sometimes kids get in fights and
you know, it's uh, they're going to have to be
held accountable and things are going to have to happen
to ensure that their safety at the school. But in
today's day and age, it's definitely seen more because of
cell phones and social media than it ever was before
(07:04):
and so that you know, that's a big difference in
society now obviously, and the way kids can communicate with
cell phones. We're actually going to be talking about cell
phones here at our next board meeting, whether to ban
those or not, and so that that's a big part
of the safety conversation as well. What are cell phones
doing and social media doing to exacerbate these problems with
our kids in every school. So I'm proud of the
(07:26):
work that we've done. We've seen a major decline, but
I mean, anytime you have one hundred and fifty five schools,
you're going to see some issues at times.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
What's your leaning on that. It sounds like you'd rather
the kids not have the schools during educational periods.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yeah, it's a tough call, it really is. And I
mean I understand parents want to be able to contact
their kids for safety purposes, you know, And it's a
tough thing out there because the you know, the technology
continues to stay in front of us adults and the
kids are usually on the cutting end edge of technology.
(08:01):
And I'll be honest with you, Tony, I don't think
the major technology companies, the cell phone companies, are helping
us out because they continue to make it easier and
easier for kids to access those while we continue to fight.
I clearly believe that cell phones in the classroom during
learning time are not a good thing. It distracts kids.
(08:22):
Teaching as hard enough as it is, and it was
prior to cell phones and keeping kids engaged, especially at
the older levels. I mean, we see now elementary kids
with cell phones, with smartphones, and so you know, very
opposed to it. It's not a matter of banning it,
it can be. It's a matter more of what you
(08:42):
do when a kid has that phone. And so you know,
you've got to have everyone in the school on the
same page. You've got to have the administration on the
same page. And when you say no cell phones, that
means no cell phones. And you know, everyone knows as
a parent is when you set rules, and then if
you continue to slip or slide on those rules and
allow them, then it's not gonna It's not gonna happen.
(09:04):
And so I think the real thing is enforcement. But
I do work, you know, we will ban them, and
I do worry that in four or five years, what's
the technology going to be for kids. Well, you can't
see it, it's an earpiece, it's a part of their glasses.
It's I mean, they already have glasses. So I mean
these are all temporary fixes as we try to catch
up with the technology that changes in our schools and society.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, unfortunately, you know, you're the superintendent, and there's a
lot of charges there in schools and j cps and
everything else. But I can tell you unequivocally this is
a twenty year old problem. I went into a class
one time when Billy Reid was with us, and he
was having guys who had been in sports talk like
(09:48):
me coming in there. And after about five minutes, I said,
are you guys just gonna keep looking at your phone?
Do you want to hear what I have to say?
I mean, that's twenty years ago, bro, I'm just saying.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
That, and I'm telling you, and it's it's gotten much worse.
I mean, obviously you know this in society with people
accessing their cell phones. But so it's an adult is
shoe too, Tony? Oh my gosh, yes, it's it's the
exact same thing. So I always say, whatever we want
to model for our kids, we better do it as adults.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I've got my YouTube son who one day was saying, Dad,
you guys just look at your phone or are we
going to have lunch together? I was like, wait a minute,
this is this is reversing roles here. I was like, okay, wah.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So there you have the same thing in schools, Tony,
when you got two thousand kids in a school, the
same exact thing. So we're gonna we're gonna have to
prove it it in education and so that that's a
battle everywhere right now.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Indeed, appreciate your time, doctor Polio. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Thanks Tony, have a great one.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
YouTube Marty Polio here on kentuk in is one of
news
Morning seven five News Radio a for the e w
HS Marty Pollio. Joining us here this morning the the
Jeffson County Public School Superintendent Marty. Good morning, first of all,
and uh, how's the health around JCPS?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Hey, Tony, It's great to be with you again today.
Excuse me speaking of that. No, you know, it has improved.
We won't really know until we see numbers today, but
there is no doubt I think that the last last
five days, including the weekend, have helped. But our numbers
were pretty significant, both staff and students from mid last week,
(00:34):
so we'll see. Uh, you know, we obviously check call
ins and those things last night, so it seemed much
better before we came back to school, So we'll see
today what the what the attendance is for both staff
and students.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Obviously COVID got us into this, uh what do we
call now NTI situation? How has that progressed over the
last four years or so?
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, So it's interesting because NTI was it's been around
since the legislature passed it in the early twenty tens
for mostly rural districts around the state, so JCPS never
used it prior to COVID, but because we did not
have to cancel school very often, but some of your
rural counties out in Kentucky might have to cancel ten, twelve,
(01:23):
fifteen days a year. And so that the legislature gave
non traditional instruction days to provide that clearly, in a
positive way, COVID helped us be able to teach and
learn better. When it comes to remote learning, it's still
not the same, and I'm the first to say that,
and that's why I never liked to use or minimize
(01:43):
as many days as we possibly can. But it definitely
COVID allowed us to figure out ways to do that better.
Where teachers communicate with kids through their laptops and other means,
you know, Google Classroom and things like that, and so
we try to use those instead of adding days on
to the end. You know, that's a balance that we
(02:05):
always have to face, is I want to get kids
in face to face instructional days as many days as
we possibly can. But on the same sense too, so
when you get into late May and early June and
things like that, the attendance dips dramatically for students, and
so you know, keeping that final day as close to
Memorial Day as possible while still maximizing learning being number
(02:26):
one for us.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
As far as what we've seen from the Department of Education,
we don't know if there's going to be cuts, if
it's going to be eliminated, those kind of things. We've
had this discussion in a way, but there's a tune
of about almost a billion dollars, eight hundred and eighty
one dollars. What are your concerns, if any, regarding that.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, I mean, I think every superintendent, you know, whether
it's me, large city superintendents or suburban superintendents, are rural superintendents,
I mean, are all our budgets are all dependent highly
on federal funds. And I want to say our budgets
they're very limited in going to students. So very little
of our federal funds fund anything other than direct student services,
(03:15):
which include mostly special education services for all our special
education kids. That's the number one expenditure from federal funds.
And so, I mean, clearly when and there's a lot
of federal laws around how you have to continue funding
at a certain level and can't cut funding a special
education rightfully. So and so you know that that is
(03:36):
a huge expenditure for every single district in the nation,
which it funds every special ed kid to a certain level. Secondarily,
I think what we call Title one funds, which are
funds that go to schools and districts with the most
disadvantaged students economically and without a doubt, I mean that's
that's every single school district in this commonwealth or receiving
(03:59):
Title one funds, so that are earmarked specifically and you
can only do certain things with them. So I think,
you know, there's a whole lot of other grants out there,
Tony that we would talk about, but I think those
two and then obviously nutrition services feeding our kids. Without
those three things, we would I mean, every single every
single district would struggle. So it's not like an urban
(04:22):
thing or it's not, it's it's every single district. So
you know, my number one thing would be how those
funds would be earmarked. I'm confident they would still come.
It would just be a matter of would they be
blocked to the state, and then the state decides how
they're distributed or would it be in some other mechanism
or some other federal office. So I think all of
us at the at the local superintendent level, that that
(04:44):
is the biggest concern when we look at the Department
of Education.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
We'll talk some more with doctor Marty Polio here on
news radio A forty w h as Marty Polio joining
us this morning of the superintendent of Jefferson County Public School, Marty,
I appreciate you your time this morning. Let's talk a
little bit about school safety. We've seen another fight in
Doss High School. You know, we're in a violent society.
(05:10):
It's not just school. It's kind of a microcosm the
school is to what we see with people that just
get in fights and shoot, try to shoot each other
when they have a collision or something with a car.
I mean, I don't know how you handle this kind
of thing, But can you tell us anything about what
we're seeing and what other precautions you're trying to take
(05:32):
here with school safety?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, and I mean I'm really proud of of the
measures we've taken for school safety when it comes to
district wide. I mean, from weapons detection to our own
police force, food now has fifty five officers. I'm really
just really proud of that work and the things that
are happening and the supports for kids. But when you
have a district of our size, and you know, things
(05:57):
are going to happen at times. So overall, you know,
a lot of our data over especially over the past
two or three years, has very much declined when it
comes to the type of behaviors that are aggressive, fighting,
those type of things. So we've seen a significant decline
in that. However, you know that that is one area,
you know, Doss that we've seen some problems. They do
(06:19):
have some you know, we had a new student assignment
zone for them, you know, which a lot of times
means you know, new kids coming together. So you know
that I think is a part of it. But you know,
I think the biggest, the biggest part of it is
in today's world. And you know, I've been in j
CPS and public education for thirty years. It was unfortunately
(06:41):
a part of my career for thirty years as a principal,
and and you know, sometimes kids get in fights and
you know, it's uh, they're going to have to be
held accountable and things are going to have to happen
to ensure that their safety at the school. But in
today's day and age, it's definitely seen more because of
cell phones and social media than it ever was before
(07:04):
and so that you know, that's a big difference in
society now obviously, and the way kids can communicate with
cell phones. We're actually going to be talking about cell
phones here at our next board meeting, whether to ban
those or not, and so that that's a big part
of the safety conversation as well. What are cell phones
doing and social media doing to exacerbate these problems with
our kids in every school. So I'm proud of the
(07:26):
work that we've done. We've seen a major decline, but
I mean, anytime you have one hundred and fifty five schools,
you're going to see some issues at times.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
What's your leaning on that. It sounds like you'd rather
the kids not have the schools during educational periods.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Yeah, it's a tough call, it really is. And I
mean I understand parents want to be able to contact
their kids for safety purposes, you know, And it's a
tough thing out there because the you know, the technology
continues to stay in front of us adults and the
kids are usually on the cutting end edge of technology.
(08:01):
And I'll be honest with you, Tony, I don't think
the major technology companies, the cell phone companies, are helping
us out because they continue to make it easier and
easier for kids to access those while we continue to fight.
I clearly believe that cell phones in the classroom during
learning time are not a good thing. It distracts kids.
(08:22):
Teaching as hard enough as it is, and it was
prior to cell phones and keeping kids engaged, especially at
the older levels. I mean, we see now elementary kids
with cell phones, with smartphones, and so you know, very
opposed to it. It's not a matter of banning it,
it can be. It's a matter more of what you
(08:42):
do when a kid has that phone. And so you know,
you've got to have everyone in the school on the
same page. You've got to have the administration on the
same page. And when you say no cell phones, that
means no cell phones. And you know, everyone knows as
a parent is when you set rules, and then if
you continue to slip or slide on those rules and
allow them, then it's not gonna It's not gonna happen.
(09:04):
And so I think the real thing is enforcement. But
I do work, you know, we will ban them, and
I do worry that in four or five years, what's
the technology going to be for kids. Well, you can't
see it, it's an earpiece, it's a part of their glasses.
It's I mean, they already have glasses. So I mean
these are all temporary fixes as we try to catch
up with the technology that changes in our schools and society.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, unfortunately, you know, you're the superintendent, and there's a
lot of charges there in schools and j cps and
everything else. But I can tell you unequivocally this is
a twenty year old problem. I went into a class
one time when Billy Reid was with us, and he
was having guys who had been in sports talk like
(09:48):
me coming in there. And after about five minutes, I said,
are you guys just gonna keep looking at your phone?
Do you want to hear what I have to say?
I mean, that's twenty years ago, bro, I'm just saying.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
That, and I'm telling you, and it's it's gotten much worse.
I mean, obviously you know this in society with people
accessing their cell phones. But so it's an adult is
shoe too, Tony? Oh my gosh, yes, it's it's the
exact same thing. So I always say, whatever we want
to model for our kids, we better do it as adults.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I've got my YouTube son who one day was saying, Dad,
you guys just look at your phone or are we
going to have lunch together? I was like, wait a minute,
this is this is reversing roles here. I was like, okay, wah.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
So there you have the same thing in schools, Tony,
when you got two thousand kids in a school, the
same exact thing. So we're gonna we're gonna have to
prove it it in education and so that that's a
battle everywhere right now.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Indeed, appreciate your time, doctor Polio. Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Thanks Tony, have a great one.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
YouTube Marty Polio here on kentuk in is one of
news
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