LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- "Clearly in the face of all the controversy, we can't stop the work. We have a lot we need to get done and we're going to continue to do that," Dr. Marty Pollio said Tuesday evening in his superintendent's remarks.
It was a packed house for Tuesday's JCPS school board meeting inside the Van Hoose Education Center, the first board meeting since the Kentucky Department of Education's interim commissioner Wayne Lewis recommended a state takeover of JCPS.
"For me right now, I've got to do the work and I've got to do the job and that means every single day, come in despite that and despite the looming audit and the decisions that have to be made around that, despite that we have to do the work," Pollio said.
Not a seat was left empty for the JCPS board meeting. While the topic of the possible takeover was not listed as a point of discussion, it was still on the minds of many, like Seneca High School senior Michael Biggers, who spoke before the board to offer his and other students' support as JCPS faces an uncertain future.
"We are in it with them. We're there and we're supporting them," he said. "We want to let them know we're supporting them as much as they're supporting us."
Biggers, who will be leaving JCPS for the University of Kentucky to continue studying to become a teacher, said even though his time with the school district may be up - for now - the management audit is still an important issue that he will continue to follow.
"I know they talk about the state takeover but Dr. Pollio is just getting in and I feel like he does need the time to excel, the time to change what he wants to change," he said.
Pollio and the school board are working on a budget, holding a work session before Tuesday's meeting to map out of a plan for next year and onward.
"We now have a very clear vision of where we're going and soon we'll have a strategic plan that we'll follow," Pollio said. "We will do the work. We'll do the budget sessions, the work sessions. We'll have the board meeting. We'll continue to make sure we get better every single day."