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JCPS Pauses Echo Trail Boundary Plan After Parent Backlash

District leaders cite faster enrollment growth following magnet transportation cuts.

Overview

  • The Jefferson County Board of Education postponed a vote on redrawing Echo Trail’s attendance map and set additional listening sessions after emotional public feedback.
  • The proposal would reassign students north of I-64 and west of Valhalla Golf Club to Crosby Middle, with current Echo Trail students allowed to remain and roughly 90 incoming sixth graders affected next year.
  • Echo Trail is operating at about 114% of capacity, with district estimates of 123% utilization next school year and up to 133% within three years without changes.
  • Parents said they learned of the plan only when it appeared on a recent board agenda, and JCPS Chief of Schools Robert Moore acknowledged the district failed to communicate the study in a timely way.
  • District data show wider imbalances with nearly 30 schools over capacity and more than 20 under 60% full, and JCPS says no additional boundary changes will be proposed this school year.