FOR 2026 Questionnaire
for Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS)
School Board Candidates in District 1
Candidates for District 1:
Gail Logan Strange, School Board District #1 Candidate
- Ms Strange is an incumbent member of the JCPS School Board.
- She chose not to respond to the Fellowship of Reconciliation questionnaire.
- She has participated in the Urban League and Courier-Journal school board forums.
- We will include information from her website and other statements she has made in the media.
Ms. Strange served as a long-term substitute teacher after completing undergrad and also taught adult education classes. Family members currently work for JCPS and others who have worked for JCPS in the past.
She holds a Master of Business Management and Human Relations from Webster University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Kentucky State University and certified as a secondary teacher.
She served as the Director of Corporate and Community Relations for Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation where she directed, developed strategies and executed the company’s community relations’ efforts both locally and nationally.
Strange joined the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (PC-U.S.A.) and served in various roles in the communications department.
Prior to PC (U.S.A.) she served as Executive Director of the Louisville Youth Philanthropy Council (LYPC) teaching high school students how to run and operate their own non-profit organization
She has served on several local and national Boards including, the Louisville Urban League, The Center for Women and Families, Leadership Louisville, Metro United Way, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, immediate past board chair of the World Day of Prayer U.S.A., and is currently a member of the board of directors of the St. John Center.
Campaign web address is gailforjcps.com
Endorsed by: Better Schools Kentucky, (PAC of the Jefferson County Teachers Association)
Amina Shale withdrew as a candidate for District #1 School Board
Jody Hurt, School Board District #1 Candidate
- Mr. Hurt chose not to respond to the Fellowship of Reconciliation questionnaire.
- He does not appear to have a campaign website and did not participate in the Urban League or Courier Journal forums.
Questions for candidates
Question 1.
Background: During and after the pandemic, former Superintendent Marty Pollio, his team, and the boards took advantage of available Federal COVID era funding to make critical new program investments for JCPS, e.g.,
- 1:1 chromebooks and wi-fi so all students could be computer savvy at graduation, not waiting at a public library;
- Mental health professionals in place at every school;
- Nurses at every school; and
- New research-based literacy and numeracy curricula rolled out with teacher professional development for early school years.
Superintendent Pollio, board and chief financial officer knew this COVID money would end, but they believed the programs would help JCPS students move forward. They knew there would be deficits, and that cuts or more property tax income would be needed to maintain the successful improvements. Indeed, they set up a committee of community groups (including Fellowship of Reconciliation) to consider the possibility of a recallable tax increase to be able to retain the best of the new programs.
Here are two detailed stories from local media. They reported on the process and timing around making these important decisions and, also, the making of the first $100 million of cuts under former Superintendent Pollio and the board at the time:
Jess Clark of Louisville Public Media, in August of 2023:
Fernando Garcia-Franceschini of WAVE TV in May of 2025:
https://www.wave3.com/2025/05/14/jcps-cut-close-100-million-its-upcoming-budget
Over the last year and during the selection of a new superintendent, various state and local officials, local media and social media have berated previous decisions as financial mismanagement.
The current board just accepted the new nonrecallable property tax rate of 70.3 cents/$100 assessed value. Because the assessments are higher, the actual rate was dropped from last year’s rate of 71.7 cents/$100 assessed value. The board meeting on Tuesday (youtube at JCPS Board Meeting Materials on JCPS website) September 22, 2026 will show that while there may be “tax anticipation” notes to cover salaries that must be paid in late fall of the next three years, the major cuts are over and the deficit not as large as anticipated last year.
Question 1: How will you as a board member, working with the Superintendent, rebuild trust in JCPS management with the community and with the legislature? How will you evaluate what programs and staffing should be retained or could be scaled back? Is there a path to COLAs? Under what circumstances/when might you be open to calling for and promoting a recallable tax increase to be able to retain the good programs and teachers that grow our learners?
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
Because she is effectively in a noncompetitive situation, Ms. Strange has not responded to our questionnaire. However, we are including her positions in mainstream media that are related to several of our questions so that you may get a sense of her goals and capabilities.
From the CJ coverage: … the board must strengthen oversight by requiring a formal approval process for any new spending or budget changes after the working budget is adopted. Members should receive monthly budget-to-actual reports, reconciliations, updated year-end projections, and cash-flow projections so decisions are based on timely, accurate information. Major expenditures should include an ROI analysis, and procurement and professional service contracts must be reviewed through a more rigorous, transparent process. Board members are required by law to take financial courses through KDE. There should also be a clear provision allowing the CFO to speak directly to the board when asked to participate in questionable financial practices.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
Question 2.
Background: You as a board member will plunge immediately into helping the JCPS superintendent, staff and community create a five-year plan for improved outcomes for all our students, especially those who have been struggling. In parallel, you will oversee three-year, rolling budget projections.
Two JCPS schools were recently identified as being among the best schools in the country. Both schools had relatively selective entrance policies. Among the rest of our nearly 170 schools, several dozen schools—generally with most of their students living in poverty– are among the bottom 5% of public schools in Kentucky.
Children living in poverty have extra basic needs, from safety in their home neighborhoods, to adequate meals and sleep every day. In some cases, working parents facing a lack of time together to fully shape their children’s character and adaptability and to engage with their school. JCPS has important family support staff (FRYSCs) for helping to address some of these needs.
In the class rooms, we are seeing some improvements from new literacy and numeracy curricula in the lower grades. We also must assess and address the needs of older (middle school and up) students who were not exposed to the new curricula, so that they can also graduate with English and math skills of a lifelong learner.
Data from Stanford University Education Data Archives–Educational Recovery Project showed that the last three years (2022-2024) Dr Yearwood was Superintendent at Columbia (MO) public schools, the average change in reading scores was +0.04 for low-income students. JCPS’ change for the same time period was -0.23 for our low-income students. Those same students in MO raised their average math scores 0.39, while scores for the equivalent student in JCPS rose only 0.19. Dr, Yearwood and his CAO did improve outcomes in reading, and more so in math.
Question 2: We have talented teachers and they need to be supported, but what extra is necessary to catch these struggling children up? Who should be guiding/coaching teachers at these high-needs schools? KDE? The CAO? Should principals be administrators or chief teachers? Do teachers need more time to confer with other teachers in their school to identify each child’s specific way of learning? Do we have the right curricula to speak to these struggling students? Do we need more teachers who look like their students? Is it a matter of extra contact time after school for individualized help? Summer study and enrichment? What questions would you ask of Dr. Yearwood’s approach? As you visit your district schools, what questions would you ask of JCPS teachers/principals who may have successfully turned around underperforming schools?
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
From the CJ coverage: …
I believe JCPS must have a clear vision, measurable goals, strong values, and guardrails, along with consistent monitoring, assessments, and accountability to improve overall student academic achievement. Students also need vibrant learning experiences that allow them to demonstrate subject knowledge, critical thinking, and practical skills. The district must use available data to identify each student’s learning needs and provide timely support. It is also important to give teachers the flexibility to teach according to student needs, not simply to standardized state testing. A stronger focus on data-driven instruction, meaningful learning, and targeted interventions will help more students reach grade-level expectations and succeed.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
Question 3.
Background: According to the US Census, children born from today forward will graduate high school and plunge into life in a “majority minority” country. JCPS is already a majority minority district, i.e., our students are mostly people of color. JCPS must meet the needs of all our students for their personal success and for creating the Jefferson County of the future. It is a matter of fairness—of equity.
Gap reduction requires that underserved groups of students improve faster than more privileged demographic groups. Our students come from many racial and ethnic backgrounds, and students from immigrant families may speak one or more of over 100 different languages heard in JCPS. A majority of our students come from low-income families. Some are homeless. Some have special developmental or disability challenges. We must find the best ways to reach and teach all of them.
Research shows that all students respond more easily to teachers who look like them. For a variety of reasons, not the least of which are the demographics of our state, we have only about 20% of our teachers who are people of color. JCPS has been active in trying to grow and recruit more.
Following a model used by Miami Dade (FL) school district and others, JCPS created a path to provide extra money for a school, based on the percentage of the school’s population which came from low-income households, were immigrants, had special needs, etc. During the recent cost-cutting to reduce the deficit, half of these targeted funds were cut. Some have been restored.
Question 3: You will be helping shape the diverse future of our city and country. How will you look at apportioning resources to help our diverse groups overcome challenges so that all become proficient at the skills of lifelong learners?
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
From the CJ coverage: …
Every student learns differently, and JCPS must recognize that while keeping high expectations for all. The superintendent has set a goal for every student to make a year’s worth of growth in reading each year. A standardized curriculum is important for consistency and helps students who change schools stay on track. At the same time, the district must go the extra mile for students who need additional support. All JCPS students deserve the opportunity to succeed, so individualized learning, extra time, targeted attention, and resources must be provided to meet each student’s needs and reach the goal of one year of growth.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
Question 4.
Background: Immigration has been a primary source of population growth in Jefferson County for more than a decade. While our current federal government has reversed that policy, approximately one out of every five JCPS students is part of an immigrant family. Almost 40% of these students may have been born in the US and are US citizens, but many speak a different language with their family at home.
There are a limited number of ESL (English as a second language) teachers available for hire regionally. We do have some who are immigrants themselves. We have never had an immigrant on the board.
JCPS was actually an innovator and early adopter of real-time translation technology to allow more teachers to work with these students successfully. JCPS created the Newcomer Academy for initial intensive English language training for new immigrant students before they were mainstreamed in schools. Some immigrants arrived at an older age and became Newcomer students. Some of these students are now graduating from Newcomer directly, without first being mainstreamed.
Almost a decade ago, the JCPS board created a sanctuary policy to prevent federal officials from upsetting our school communities for immigration enforcement. Today the pressure has been compounded by new federal directives. Schools must be a safe space for students and their studies. Students should not have to be concerned about be taken from the schools, about being used to track down their parents when they come to the schools, about needing to be absent to work enough to support families where parents are at risk. We have a JCPS police force of over 70 officers, specially trained to support and protect our students. The JCPS board and lobbyists have thus far resisted ICE and legislature efforts to create 287g partnerships to support ICE enforcement.
Question 4: Each of you will have immigrant students in your district schools. How can we better support their educational challenges and better protect their families as they participate in our community and it schools?
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
No related statements.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
Question 5.
Background: Teachers and classroom aides are the core of who interact directly with our students and help them become lifelong learners. Teachers need time to plan, time to collaborate, time for professional development. JCPS‘ “product” are all the new members of our Louisville community.
Wages for teachers, aides and other staff haven’t kept up with inflation since 2008. Part of this is JCPS, part of it is reduced SEEK funding from the state. Teachers did not create the JCPS deficits and they should not be borne by teachers and school staff.
Salaries and benefits need to keep pace with inflation so that: 1) older, more experienced teachers don’t retire at the first opportunity and 2) that we can’t compete for teacher talent with surrounding districts and states. A cost-of-living allowance (COLA) costs about $10million/per year for each one percent for all teachers. This year inflation has been high across the country, around 3%. This spring the teachers settled for one-time payments, not a COLA, because of the deficit. Other staff union contracts follow the percentages for JCTA salary increases.
We cannot count on massive funding for public schools from the coming Federal education $1700 tax credit program. The program can pay for individual students’ tuitions for private schools, but there is no tuition in public schools. Our students might have smaller expenses like after school tutoring or transportation to extra curriculars.
Question 5: Given that we are reducing the deficit from COVID spending, how can we find money for COLA so that we can continue to attract new teachers and retain our most experienced teachers? How do we find and prioritize funding for those in front of the classrooms?
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
From Ms. Strange’s website…
I believe teachers deserve to be well paid and I think the state legislature should have approved the 11% increase in teacher pay proposed by Governor Beshear. I believe it is inequitable for a bus driver’s salary to be comparable and in some cases more than a teacher’s salary. Both positions are important to the education of our children, but teachers often make lifetime impacts on a child’s life. A more competitive salary could go a long way in the recruitment and retention of teachers.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
Question 6.
Background: JCPS is continuously evaluating programs for their value in improving student outcomes. Over the past year of deficit reduction, JCPS produced millions of dollars in savings by scaling back or eliminating some programs, such as poorly attended summer and tutoring programs. We have urged the administration to listen to and engage with the community about equity before decisions are made.
One example of a non-academic program that the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) believes should be considered for elimination is the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program, which costs the District approximately $1.4 million per year. Open Records Requests over the years have shown that many students in JCPS’ JROTC programs have been leaving the programs instead of staying in until graduation. In the class of 2023, 54% of the cadets left early. The class of 2025 is similar– just over 50% left JROTC early. Over the last two years, two schools have independently dropped the JROTC program for lack of student enrollment. In four other schools, JROTC enrollment recently fell below the minimum required by the schools’ contracts with JROTC, but the programs were allowed to continue. The district should be listening to students and their parents and scrutinizing JROTC district-wide.
Unlike the highly-successful Academies of Louisville program – which creates links between academics and career training — JROTC has no ties to academics. JROTC instructors (now 18 in the nine JROTC units) are not certified teachers. JROTC curriculum is supplied by the Pentagon and is not subject to District review. There is no academic focus aligned with state standards. Nor does JROTC offer a career-training advantage. At graduation, any 18-year old can walk into a recruiting office and enlist in the military.
But the most significant shortcoming of JROTC may be the opportunity cost to students. The 120 to 180 class hours per year spent in JROTC classes reduce time available for arts, music, foreign languages and computer skills – subjects proven to improve academic achievement and social/emotional development. Numerous studies link arts participation to improved literacy, math performance, and problem-solving skills. Music programs, for example, strengthen pattern recognition and mathematical reasoning, while theater and visual arts improve reading comprehension and verbal communication (Public School Review). Foreign language classes develop cognitive flexibility, memory, and cultural awareness, which support learning in other subjects. JROTC offers none of these benefits – and for the over half of students who exit the JROTC program early, it prevents them from gaining the full advantage of the other Academy programs offered at their school.
Question 6: How would you evaluate the value of investing in JROTC and other nonacademic offerings compared to further support for Related Arts offerings such as arts, music, or foreign language classes? What would you do to make sure that JCPS students, parents and community are given objective, balanced information to make informed decisions, both for their own family and for JCPS’ consideration, of nonacademic offerings like JROTC? Should we also be assessing different Academies for students quitting a pathway, similarly to JROTC cadets?
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
No related statements.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
Question 7.
Background: This new board, along with the legislature and the Ky Department of Education (KDE), will face policy issues around technology and its impact on student learning. The current board has wrestled with phone use by students during school and seems to have created workable policies. The next set of issues for the board may concern screen time limits and use of and or reliance on AI. The challenges are about ethical use.
Educational psychologists have over the last two decades seen reductions in critical thinking ability as screen time increases. TV, without educational programming, detracts from socialization, physical activity, sleep, etc. At the same time, increased screen time and AI hold promise for more individualized and creative work, drawing on more sources. There is also the opportunity for misrepresenting work as a student’s creation and loss of independent writing skills.
Question 7: How should teachers use these tools to create personalized work products for learning without becoming dependent on these tools? What role does the board play in limiting screen time of students, while still providing technology for all students who otherwise might not have access. Do we still need one-to-one Chromebooks provided and maintained by JCPS?
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
From the CJ coverage: …
JCPS should follow proven research on appropriate time limits for technology and AI use in schools, especially for younger students. At the same time, we must prepare students to use these tools responsibly, ethically, and effectively. Technology and AI are already shaping college, careers, and the workforce, so students need guided instruction, clear expectations, and safeguards – not unlimited access. A balanced approach will protect students while giving them the skills they need to compete after graduation.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
Question 8.
Background: Part of the pledge made by the previous JCPS management and boards was for improving near West End schools—creating the schools of the Choice Zone– and providing transportation to and opportunity for attending engaging magnet and Academy schools for the African American students. Our current COO who has thankfully led us back to adequate general bus service in 2026, has said he believes JCPS has hired all the drivers it can get competitively and retain against UPS, Amazon, etc.
The Magnet Schools of America organization in particular urges intentionally diverse student populations in magnet classrooms, because its data show that a diverse mix of students, exposed to other students’ different ways of learning and looking at problems, helps all students be more effective and creative problem solvers.
Question 8: How do we create the transportation that will allow us to fully live into the promise made regarding African Americans access to magnet schools? Is the answer to fuller transport in TARC, vans, or other paths, such as more mirror magnets in schools in African American neighborhoods?
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
From Ms. Strange’s website…
I think each student should be afforded the opportunity to attend the school that works best for their interests and learning styles. That also includes the ability to attend a school close to their home. Which dictates that every public school has all of the human, fiscal, and facility resources it needs to help every student that chooses to attend that school flourish.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
Question 9.
Background: Around the country, major school districts are finding they need to close, repurpose, and/ or consolidate schools, as birth rates and lower immigration reduce attendance. We are seeing this in JCPS as well. This fall, JCPS counted just above 90,000 students in classrooms, far below the attendance a decade ago. The Courier -Journal (9/20/26) estimated JCPS has 15,000 classroom seats unclaimed.
Last year, in the interest of reducing budget deficits by cutting operating costs, JCPS closed Martin Luther King Elementary in Shawnee and Zachary Taylor Elementary in the East End. $5.4 million were saved. Both schools had diverse student populations—people of color, special needs students, students living in poverty mostly. Neither had anywhere near the lowest school occupancy rates. Both had teaching staff that had worked together well and been improving struggling student lives. Parents, teachers, and students came or marched to meetings by candlelight for the opportunity to be heard by the Superintendent and administrative staff, but to no avail. The MLK families told JCPS that MLK was “the heartbeat of the neighborhood”.
The CJ article identifies some key steps other district had identified. Every closure must be preceded by adjustment of the attendance zones not only for student seats, but also for shared programs in all new clusters. Consolidations must look at the mix of demographics, access to special programs, magnets, and student services, etc. Teachers also need to be involved and heard. They can help figure how school populations could be blended and how to avoid the apparently common student slowdowns in progress in English and math, both for the affected students and the receiving schools’ rankings.
Question 9: How would you look at selecting schools for closure and/or consolidation? Would you support a district-wise approach redoing attendance zones, instead of just finding lower-occupancy schools? How can we take smaller steps in modifying attendance zones with a great deal of cross-community input? How would you involve the teacher and entire community in downsizing discussions long before actual selections were proposed? In what way can we keep a JCPS presence and community centers across the JCPS geography? Schools are community centers for our neighborhoods.
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
From the CJ coverage: …
School consolidation is not one-size-fits-all. Each situation must be reviewed individually. While the facilities plan considers building age, student capacity versus utilization, and ongoing and deferred maintenance costs, consolidations must be handled carefully. JCPS must consider the impact on students, staff, and the surrounding community. A long-range plan should be in place, with one-to-two-year notice, clear alternative school options for families, and expedited staff placement.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
Question 10.
Background: There are a variety of programs (e.g., PBIS, Restorative Practices, Compassionate Schools, Trauma Informed Care, peer mediation, etc.) and, now, mental health professionals at every JCPS schools where—ideally– teams of teachers and counselors assess students and implement plans to avoid situations that give rise to behavioral problems for individual students. Teachers are continually being trained to teach and model specific positive behaviors, to understand different cultures, to de-escalate, and to ask not “what is wrong with this child?” but “What has happened to this child?”. Some of this support and healing work must include families, not just students.
Much has happened to our students–increased violence in parts of our community, and the generational stress and trauma of families living in poverty. Absenteeism is soaring at JCPS and elsewhere across the country and is emblematic of the impact of these stresses on student sense of belonging and inclusion and corresponding behaviors. There are increasing the numbers of social workers and mental health professionals in JCPS schools. Because of their limited numbers, though, they may often be called on to respond only after problems occur rather than inviting some students into group counselling.
We already have weapons detection technology and about the 40th largest police force in Kentucky. Nationally, armed, sworn officers in schools have been shown to actually increase arrests and suspensions and decrease student sense of belonging, particularly for students of color. They have not been found to effectively stop mass shootings in schools.
National research data show that out-of-school suspension is a key predictor of future low achievement, dropping out, delinquency, and incarceration. Just one suspension doubles the chance of dropping out. These inequities do not occur uniformly in every school across JCPS.
National research also shows that out-of-school suspensions are ineffective at changing student behaviors. Suspended students are more likely to repeat behaviors– and consequences– again. Suspensions accelerate declines in academic performance both because of the lost learning time and the disengagement from loss of a sense of belonging.
Suspensions are also expensive for JCPS—e.g., a loss of attendance-based funding and the cost of providing “alternative schools”. While all that research is clear, some JCPS teachers (as indicated by national TELL surveys) feel they do not have all the skills and resources necessary to maintain their classrooms without using out-of-school suspension for “crises”.
Multiple or serious suspensions can lead to assignment to one of JCPS’ alternative schools. At one alternative school, the 2023-24 student population was almost 78% African American and 33% special needs students. Students at alternative schools are now most likely to continue and graduate from the alternate school, rather than being reinvesting at their previous home school.
Question 10: How can the schools provide professional, collaborative behavioral assessments of students at every school to help students, parents, and teachers (and, yes, bus drivers) engage positively, before students are stigmatized by disciplinary consequences? What models are needed to build appropriate self-control behaviors and sense of accountability by students, teachers, and parents? How do we engage with and support parents around their students’ challenges inside and outside of school, as well as their learning and school choices? How can student voice help direct this work?
How can we simultaneously create for both students and staff a sense of belonging in safe and welcoming schools? Can we reduce unwanted behaviors and radically decrease use of out-of school suspensions? How can we decrease the demographic disproportionalities of alternative school placements and, more generally, find ways to keep more students–in all demographic groups–in regular schools where they can develop their social skills and maintain their progress in learning? How would you pay for the programs, training, etc.?
How should student voice help direct this work? Do you support further expansion of armed/sworn officers in JCPS schools?
Response by Gail Logan Strange:
No related statements.
Response by Jody Hurt:
Mr. Hurt did not respond.
