District 8 eNews: The Be True to Your School Edition

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Councilman

Brandon Coan

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Jasmine Weatherby
Legislative Aide

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Tel: 574-1108

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Welcome: August and Everything After

I’m a strong believer in bringing our city government and school systems closer together. 

JCPS board member Chris Kolb (District 2) was my guest on the District 8 Podcast last fall, and he and I held our first joint “Town and Gown-Hall Meeting” at Hawthorne Elementary in the spring.  Our next meeting is planned for October, at Highland Middle, and more details are coming soon.

Former Hawthorne Principal – now JCPS Executive Administrator of Middle School Support – Jessica Rosenthal serves on the District 8 Advisory Board. 

I’ve met with Bloom Principal Jack Jacobs to address egress, traffic and parking issues at the school, and with Bloom parents to support their Community Playground Project.  I’m a repeat volunteer for Youth Services Center Coordinator Tim Meyer at Highland’s “Love Your Job” career day.  JCTMS Principal Teri Reed and I are working together to secure the school’s popular late-night parking lot and organize against crime in the Original Highlands bar district.  Atherton Super-Teacher Rita Cron Hines and dozens of her students are part of our Brightside Communitywide Cleanup team. 

These five schools, the 4,348 students that attend them (give or take), the 69 total acres they sit on and all the movement and activity they generate throughout the year are vital infrastructure assets and an indelible part of our community.  The citywide numbers are 150 schools, 101,000 students and 2,311 acres.

But we the people of Louisville and our Metro Government have only scratched the surface in terms of taking ownership – not to be confused with control – over our schools.  Not only can the city embed and invest itself in JCPS Academic Support Programs (wraparound services) in a much deeper, more strategic and meaningful way, but we ought to demand and maximize the potential of Community Schools.  We ought to organize our city planning (transportation, housing, etc.) and prioritize our capital spending around them.  We have 150 public schools, which means we have 150 unrealized parks (1,444 total grass acres), playgrounds, libraries, computer labs, gymnasiums, cafeterias, parking lots and more to serve our population.  We can’t afford not to think about JCPS in this way, too.

So, this school year, let the only takeover that comes to fruition involve JCPS and our imaginations; let us Jefferson County, be the change we want to see in Jefferson County Public Schools; and let our children live, love and learn in safe and stimulating spaces. 

  

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For breaking news and information, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  If you have a question or comment, please call me at: (502) 574-1108 or email: brandon.coan@louisvilleky.gov (and copy jasmine.weatherby@louisvilleky.gov).  If you have a service request, please call MetroCall at: 311 or visit MetroCall 311 online.  Visit the District 8 Strategic Plan page here.