LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Days before the first day of school for Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), one of the board members announced his resignation on Thursday.
Chris Kolb sent the letter to WHAS11 News on Friday.
In the letter, he said he wants to become a teacher before the first day of school. And while he listed off some of the accomplishments they made during his time on the board, he said he was frustrated with his former colleagues for allegedly failing to raise the revenue needed to address the staffing crisis.
He did give board Chair Corrie Shull and Vice-Chair James Craig credit for voting to increase the property tax rate to 80.6 cents in 2020, but since then the board has lowered the tax rate to 76 cents.
Can't read the full letter? Click here.
"I remain deeply troubled that the two of you in particular, the current chair and vice-chair, put your own political aspirations above the needs of JCPS students by going against Dr. Pollio’s recommendation and preemptively lowering the tax rate in 2023 rather than taking action to address the staffing crisis," Kolb wrote.
In response, Shull said Kolb is "aware that the bus driver shortage is a labor shortage issue, not a revenue issue."
"The JCBOE has ensure that bus driver compensation remains competitive with peer districts and companies throughout Louisville," he said.
Kolb also claimed the board has used Superintendent Marty Pollio's evaluation to criticize him for "not pursuing the desires of individual board members that these members know would never be endorsed by a majority of the board" while he was a member.
Kolb said the evaluation has never been used to evaluate Pollio based on the outcomes they wanted him to achieve.
"I realize now that I will not be successful in convincing this board to focus on student outcomes or to raise the revenue needed to address the staffing crisis, so I am choosing to do what I can as an individual by becoming a JCPS teacher," he said.
He had previously announced he would not run for another term.
In a statement sent to WHAS11 News, JCPS thanked Kolb for his service.
"We thank Chris Kolb for his service to the children of Jefferson County," they said. "We appreciate that he plans to continue to help kids and the District by applying to be a teacher in a JCPS classroom."