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(Louisville, KY) April 22, 2015 -- To keep Jefferson County Public Schools on its path of continuous
improvement, Board meeting materials indicate that Superintendent Donna Hargens will ask the
Jefferson County Board of Education to approve significant organizational changes at the district’s
central office.
“Our goal is to build capacity in an innovative and efficient organizational structure to best serve the
center of our universe, which is our schools and our students,” says Hargens. This will allow Dr. Hargens
to focus more attention on the main thing --- building relationships, recognizing the work of our
employees, and the achievement of our students.
The proposed changes for which Hargens is seeking board approval are as follows:
• Achievement Area Superintendents are a critical and important Central Services link to the
schools. Dr. Hargens is pulling them closer to the Superintendent's office to work more closely with
them and the principals, again focusing on building critical relationships. Achievement Area
Superintendents will still report directly to Dr. Dewey Hensley, our Chief Academic Officer.
• The addition of a Chief Business Officer who will report directly to the Superintendent and serve as a
member of the Superintendent’s Cabinet. This position will oversee and align two
essential departments: Finance and Human Resources. On the Finance side, the Chief Business Officer
will analyze current spending against needs and strategic priorities and will plan for analyzing and
positioning the District financially in the future. The Chief Business Officer will work closely with Chief
Financial Officer Cordelia Hardin who will remain a Cabinet member. CFO Hardin's integrity and
meticulous work have been lauded in outside reviews. Her expertise is respected statewide. The Chief
Business Officer will also oversee Human Resources. Our largest expenditure and the district's most
valuable asset is our human capital.
The national search process to fill the Chief Business Officer position will begin immediately upon Board
approval.
• The Superintendent is recommending moving from an in-house office of legal services to outsourcing
legal services. Dr. Hargens has twenty plus years of experience in a large urban district with this as an
efficient and effective model. A Request for Proposal (RFP) for qualified law firms will be issued
immediately upon Board approval.
• "Operations makes learning possible." The Supply Services department, traditionally part of
the Financial Services Division, will now join Operations under the direction of Chief Operations Officer,
(Continued)
-2Dr. Michael Raisor. The district’s print production facility in Materials Production will also join
Operations. Graphic design, editing and photography will remain in the Communications department.
• The proposed merger of MIS and Digital Technology was recommended in both the Curriculum
Management Audit and the study performed by the Auditor of Public Accounts. This merger will serve
to create one, streamlined, full service, Information Technology department. Furthermore over the past
year, in preparation for this proposed merger, job descriptions and positions have been changed to
reflect the modernization of the technology workforce.
• Our Magnet System is an integral part of our entire system. The recommendation is to move the
Program Coordinator and related staff to Academic Services under the leadership of Dr. Karen
Branham. We need to focus on the improvement of the quality of, support for, and fidelity of
implementation of, our magnet themes. We need to benchmark ourselves against national awardwinning magnet programs.
The proposed organizational changes will be considered and discussed by the Jefferson County Board of
Education at its regular meeting on Monday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m.