Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) will soon offer six weeks of paid parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child for employees who have worked with the district for at least six months.
The benefit giving new mothers and fathers six weeks of paid leave was approved by the Jefferson County Board of Education on Tuesday and goes into effect on July 1, 2024.
“We are thrilled to offer this new parental leave benefit for all employees,” Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said. “Paid parental leave is not just the right thing to do, but it will also help us attract and retain employees and ensure they feel supported.”
Paid parental leave is one highlight of the district’s $1,985,207,448 tentative fiscal year 2024-25 budget, approved Tuesday.
The budget also features school and departmental budgets built in accordance with School Allocation Standards and department needs. The School Allocation Standards highlight JCPS’ commitment to equitable funding for all schools and includes a student-weighted equity formula based on the district’s needs index and percentage of students of color in a school. Equity funding gives schools more flexibility in how they use their allocation while ensuring funding is distributed based on student need.
Other budget highlights include:
$35.9 million in Racial Equity Funds for schools
$14.2 million for middle school Explore programs and high school career programs (Career and Technical Education/Academies of Louisville)
$9.2 million increase to support multilingual students
$16.6 million for Accelerated Improvement Schools (AIS)/Choice Zone stipends plus additional E3 supports
$6.4 million for Summer Backpack League
$1.1 million for Elev8 Learning Centers
The proposed budget also includes continuation of all temporary stipends for many JCPS staff.
The 2024-25 tentative budget assumes local property tax assessments will increase 6.9% resulting in a 4% increase in revenue from local property taxes for JCPS.
JCPS administrators will present the final 2024-25 working budget in September.