LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After more than two years of debate, passionate public comment periods and the Breonna Taylor protests, Kentucky’s largest district unveiled a proposal it hopes will keep schools safe.

Jefferson County Public Schools leaders are slated to present the proposal to school board members Tuesday night.

According to a copy of the presentation posted in board meeting documents, JCPS’ proposal centers around armed officers stationed outside the school and safety-focused administrators inside buildings.

Armed “school safety officers” will be assigned to geographic clusters of three to seven schools, the proposal says. They will not be stationed inside schools. They’ll have patrol cars to quickly respond as schools need them.

Background: JCPS school security debate often focuses on police in schools, but are there other ways?

“Safety administrators” will be hired for every middle and high school to handle school safety procedures, including threat assessments. 

Neither position would be responsible for handling school discipline, the proposal says. 

Those in both positions are expected to learn about community services to help kids handle the root causes of violence, the proposal says.

They’ll also each get 60 hours of training each year, including de-escalation tactics and implicit bias training. 

SSOs will get an additional 40 hours of state-mandated school resource officer training.

School board members will discuss the proposal Tuesday, but will not vote on the plan.  

JCPS is holding a virtual town hall Wednesday night to explain the plan, collect feedback and answer questions from the community. 

A school board vote would follow in coming weeks. 

JCPS has drawn criticism from local and state leaders for not having police officers in schools since August 2019.

A bill, filed by four Louisville Republicans frustrated by the district’s lack of police, requiring all schools to have a police officer by August was scheduled to get its first vote in Frankfort Tuesday morning. It has since been removed from the agenda.

A recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll of Louisville residents found 57% thought police should be stationed in Louisville’s public schools. 

This story will be updated.

Reach Olivia Krauth at [email protected] and on Twitter at @oliviakrauth.