Louisville, where we introduce you to the people, places and things that make up Kentucky's largest city.

This week, we sit down with two of the city's top leaders.

Mayor Craig Greenberg is up for reelection this year.

He's looking back on his last term in office and ahead to what could be his next.

And then JCPS Superintendent Doctor Brian Yearwood joins us to discuss his controversial start to his first year as head of Kentucky's largest school district.

He's facing a budget crisis, a district overhaul and renewed scrutiny from Frankfort.

We begin, though, with Mayor Craig Greenberg.

[MUSIC] Mayor Craig Greenberg is joining us.

Thanks so much for being here.

We're excited to have you.

As you are looking ahead at your last year of your first term as mayor.

There's a lot that's happened during your term.

What are some of your proudest accomplishments?

>> Well, I think what I'm most one of the things I'm most proud of is particularly right now, on the heels of this historic snowfall that we had and everyone trying to stay warm over the coming days with this frigid cold temperature is how our community has come together.

It's been a challenging few years for Louisville.

Whether it was historic floods last April that we recovered from in record storms, we came together after the UPS crash to support one another.

And then even in times like this most recent snowstorm that we've just had and how we support our neighbors, that's something I'm incredibly proud of, you know, that happens every day, and it's usually outside of the headlines.

Of course, during these big events, it's in the headlines.

But that happens time after time again.

And you add that on top of the other progress that we've had in reducing violent crime and building more affordable housing and improving our parks and libraries so that those are wonderful amenities.

Those are all some of the things I'm most proud of that we've been able to accomplish over the past few years.

>> Yeah, you mentioned some the UPS crash.

You've also dealt with a mass shooting here in downtown Louisville.

You've been through three police chiefs now during your tenure.

And so what are some of the most challenging times as you look back?

>> Well, those are certainly the most challenging incidents when you just have to go all in on a particular crisis that happens, whether it is something like the mass shooting at Old National Bank or whether it's a snowstorm or a flood.

But the most challenging issue that I think we face is continuing the reduction in violent crime and improving public safety.

There's no one solution to that challenge now, I'm incredibly proud of the solutions that we've implemented and the incredibly hard work of Chief Humphrey and the team at LMPD that they're doing, and our ability to support them and add more officers.

I'm incredibly proud of the work that our partner organizations have been doing in the nonprofit community to work to prevent crime from happening in the first place.

I'm proud of our new Executive Director of Community Safety and the work from the Office of Violence Prevention that she manages, that's working with individuals who might be on the wrong path and helping them steer in the right path.

Collectively, all of that work together means that over the last three years since I've been mayor, shootings have gone down over 40%.

So that's really good progress.

But it's nothing to celebrate because we know that every day we have to do more, and we have to look at new tools as well to continue to make progress on that.

But I'm proud of where we are.

>> Yeah.

I was looking back at some interviews when you were running and, and began your term as mayor, and you're all in platform, and public safety was number one on that and an issue that you wanted to tackle.

How do you feel like we are now?

Obviously, you mentioned violent crime is down significantly, but what what do you still think is needs to be done?

>> So I'm incredibly proud of that progress.

And I expect for as long as I'm mayor every day, public safety, improving public safety will be the number one priority.

We also, in addition to some of the short term strategies that we've been implementing, we need to focus on longer term strategies as well.

And I'm a great believer that education is the great equalizer.

And that's why we launched Thrive by Five Louisville.

That's why we're working to make early childhood education and quality child care reality, because there are far too many kids in this community that the first time they ever go into a classroom is their first day of kindergarten.

And odds are at that point they're already behind and they might never catch up.

So just think what the city would look like if every child has quality childcare, early learning experiences before their first day of kindergarten.

When you look down 1020 years from now and you see the impact that that will make, that's something that I'm really excited about, how that's going to change the trajectory of our city.

So that's an initiative between us, between philanthropic communities, nonprofit organizations.

And again, it's called Thrive by Five.

In the past year, we opened three Bezos Academy, which are year round, full time early learning centers for children.

No cost to the families.

Wonderful.

That's part of this whole initiative.

So that's one of the long term solutions that I'm really excited about.

>> Yeah.

In that particular issue has been debated a lot in Frankfort about expanding that State why.

It is, and how do you feel about that, expanding it statewide, and what are some other things that you're looking for right now in this legislative session?

>> So I'm a strong supporter.

This should be, we hope, to be a model for the entire state.

And I strongly am working to encourage state legislators to find a way to provide more support, more resources to childcare, to early learning experiences.

It's it's great for the kids.

It's also great for the parents that don't have to make that impossible decision about whether they can afford childcare so they can reenter the workforce.

That's many.

One of the many issues that I'm advocating for in Frankfort right now.

I'm also very focused on advocating for some investments in Louisville, here in downtown Louisville and elsewhere around the entire city.

We have shown that investing in Louisville is a strong investment in the entire state.

And you look at some of the things that we've done with the community Care campus that's working to provide more shelter and services to individuals who are homeless.

Investments in transforming the Belvedere, which is really much needed.

Infrastructure improvement over the highway.

The largest parking garage in downtown Louisville that's literally crumbling concrete that we're working to transform.

So I'm excited about some new investment opportunities for our city across the entire community that I'm advocating for.

Also a big focus on housing.

We need more places for people to live.

We need more single family homes.

We need more apartments.

We need more duplexes.

We need more affordable housing.

We need more of all housing.

And so I'm working closely with legislators on what we can do to build more housing.

And of course, like we've already talked about public safety.

Are there some things that the state can do?

I know there are, and I hope that the state will make some steps to help us, give us some additional tools in Louisville, the state's largest city, so that we can continue to make our city safer.

>> You mentioned downtown, and I know that's another priority of yours, that investment.

But we've we also have seen the Humana building that's right there, empty for quite some time now.

What do you hope happens there, or are there any plans that you can tell us about and what are what is your vision for downtown?

>> We are going to have a very exciting announcement about the Humana building in the coming days, depending on.

>> When hours.

>> Will impact.

>> That.

>> We're going to have a very exciting announcement coming up.

>> Okay, great.

Nothing you can tell us now though.

>> It's a great opportunity for redevelopment.

And of course, when the folks at Humana decided to consolidate, they're really only moving a few blocks down West Main Street here, and I understand it.

And so I tried to look at this as an opportunity.

What can we do that will be an appropriate next chapter for the Humana Tower that will continue this downtown revitalization, that will bring more people locally, but also from around the country and world to downtown Louisville.

It's right across from the Belvedere that I just mentioned.

We're transforming right across, obviously from KET Studios, also right across from the Kentucky Center.

It's a block away from our convention center.

It's a perfect location for an exciting new development, so I'm really excited about it.

>> Oh well, I'm excited to hear it too.

Okay, great.

Stay tuned for that.

And then you also mentioned education.

So I got to ask about JCPS.

We've been, you know, in the news about these, the massive, massive budget deficit that they are facing and the cuts that they are trying to make.

What how is the city helping JCPS and what can the city do to partner better or help in that and the state as well?

>> You know, when I was running for mayor, everyone, the piece of advice I consistently got was let JCPS do its thing.

It's its own separate form of government.

But that's not my style because public education is so important to a city today and the future of a city for tomorrow.

As a product of JCPS, I want to do everything the city can do to help support them as they continue to work towards improvements in the district that I know Doctor Yearwood and others are working on right now.

So we've helped that when they had transportation challenges and we found ways that our truck drivers could help JCPS we have our Department of Public Health that works with JCPS students, because many kids have never had an eye exam, and the reason they're struggling in the classroom and outside of the classroom is not for any reason other than they can't see.

And so we've given eye exam and then free glasses to over 2000 JCPS kids.

We're always looking for ways that we can support JCPS students and their families.

And I understand that right now they have some really challenging issues ahead of them.

And so my encouragement is to make the cuts that are needed, continue to support the classroom, support our students, support our teachers, support our schools.

And if there are other places where they can make those cuts, make them.

Let's get through this so that we can all continue to come together to support and improve.

>> JCPS what's your feeling about Frankfort getting involved in JCPS?

>> Well, you know, this is a local situation, so I think people here locally are going to be making a lot of decisions.

I understand there's frustration in Frankfort, there's frustration in Louisville as well.

Everybody wants the same thing.

Everybody wants the best possible education for all of our kids.

So I'm, you know, having lots of conversations with folks in Frankfort and here locally as well.

And I think we're all open minded for good ideas about how we can help support JCPS in the future.

>> Now you are running for reelection, and later this year, this will be the city's first nonpartisan mayoral election.

How will that affect how you're running for mayor, or will it?

>> Well, that's a good question.

I might need to answer that question in a year after the election is over.

But let me say this.

When you're focused on issues like the snowstorm that we've just been battling and recovering from, it's not a Partizan issue.

We all want to get the roads clear, and we want people in these frigid cold temperatures to have a place to go that's warm, to support people who are in need, to have strong partnerships with all of the other folks that are needed.

When you're dealing with emergencies like that, that's a lot of the day to day activity of being mayor.

And so this was not my decision to make it Partizan and nonpartisan.

But that's what those are, the rules.

And I'm very proud of my ability.

Over the past three years, we've shown that I've been able to work across differences, whether it's at Metro Council and past budgets every year, with overwhelming bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans, I've been able to work in Frankfort, working closely with Governor Beshear, working closely with the General Assembly and their leadership.

And we've been able to do great things for Louisville.

So that's my goal is I'm going to continue to work in that way.

I'm going to continue to work across differences to find ways that when we can work together, that's what we're going to continue to do.

And I'll be talking about a lot about that on the campaign trail as we get closer to the primary and general elections.

And I believe that's what Louisville wants.

Louisville sees the the chaos that's going on in DC, sees all of that division.

That's not what we want here in Louisville.

We want people that have more in common than they do apart to work together and move our city forward in a new direction.

>> And just since you mentioned this, as we are watching nationally, cities like Minneapolis, what what is your plan or thought if something like that comes here and if the federal government brings Ice Border Patrol to patrol our streets?

>> Well, the chief and I and my team were definitely prepared for that.

You know, LMPD is focused on preventing violent crime from happening and responding to violent crime.

LMPD does not get involved in any civil immigration enforcement matters.

That's not their job.

We need them to focus on local crime and preventing it from happening.

So I'm hopeful that that does not happen as a result of some decisions that we've made.

We want to make sure that our entire immigrant community feels safe and supported.

Our immigrant community is so important to the city of Louisville, and I'm there to support them in every way possible that I can.

>> Thank you so much for your time.

We appreciate you.

And when we come back, we will be talking with Doctor Brian Yearwood, superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools.

[MUSIC] Doctor Brian Yearwood is the JCPS superintendent, and we spoke last when you first took over this job.

A lot has changed since then, and I know we talked then and you knew you were coming into a budget challenge.

I don't feel like everybody knew the extent of it at that time.

And now you've said it's $188 million budget deficit that you walked into.

So I want to start with, how do you feel like the district got here?

>> So again, we had an influx of funds from the federal government.

The Esser funds.

And we purchased great things.

You know, we did Chromebooks, we improved our transportation.

We looked at our weapons detection system, we increased our police department.

You know, they were great things that we spent funds on.

You know, I would not take any of that away.

But when the funds were depleted, we did not have a sustainability plan.

And that has led us to now being in a contributed to a deficit model.

>> Do you think the responsibility for that lies within JCPS, or do you think Frankfort and Kentucky state government has any part of that?

>> No, I believe it's within JCPS because, you know, we have a checkbook and we have revenues and expenditures, and we have to balance your checkbook, and that's what we intend to do.

And we are well on the way to getting that done.

So it's really within JCPS.

>> Okay.

So this budget proposal that you just released is $142 million in cuts.

A lot of people say that's too much.

A lot of people say it's not enough.

So what went into your thinking on coming up with this draft proposal and what you are going to cut?

>> Yes.

So the word, you know, cost containment, we wanted to ensure that our budgets had were able to address a certain cost that we have, but not have runaway costs.

And really addressing the deficit area of, of our costs.

In addition to that, we wanted to make sure that the budget was responsible.

So by saying that the meaning that going forward, we are able to erase as much of the deficit as we possibly can.

So we targeted $132 million, 142 was put in to because we have certain negotiables that we're going through with the union and things like that.

But it's really to to make sure that we stabilize our finances for long term because, you know, as you look at it, if our finances aren't stable.

You know, then our schools can't be stable because we don't know about teacher pay.

We don't know about sustaining teachers, about sustaining quality programs.

And we don't ever want to to really have to face that long term.

So right now we're making the hard decisions, the difficult decisions of cutting 132 that would lead us to a responsible budget, so that again, the term insolvency or, you know, any negative connotations will go away.

>> The biggest cuts in your proposal are in central office cutting 300 positions, and those positions will be presented at the next board meeting.

Is that right?

>> Yes, yes.

You know, we did the first layer with the cabinet.

We did a reduction in the number of chiefs we had.

13 we had now we're down to eight.

And there were some reclassification of some of those positions to lower pay grades.

And we will continue to cut or have certain cuts that are presented to the board on February the 10th, and some of those will be reclassifications.

And some of those are actually eliminations of certain positions.

But all in all, we are the plan is to realize and to get to these cuts in a responsible way.

I'm also in a way that we we must be sensitive because these are people that we're cutting.

These are not just things, these are people.

And to me, it's it's it's it's very difficult when you're talking about, you know, reducing staff.

It's heartbreaking for some.

So we are really being very cautious and making sure that as we are making these cuts, we are very sensitive to that.

>> There's been a lot of criticism, though, that some of these cabinet positions particularly, are sort of being reorganized and retitled and without real money cuts.

Is that something you plan to present to?

>> Yes, yes.

You know, as we look at certain reclassifications of those chief positions, it comes with a reduction in pay, you know, and that will be evident once we are able to show everything in its entirety.

>> Okay.

And at the board meeting, I know a lot of principals and administrators at the school level voiced their concern that they weren't included in the budgeting process, or their opinions didn't feel like they were being heard.

Did you reach out to principals and administrators and are you continuing to talk with them?

>> Yes, absolutely.

We had about three meetings with our principals or administrators, and we will continue to do so.

Of course, you know, we're listening for input.

We did receive input from them.

And and that continues.

We have more meetings coming up this coming week.

I know we have at least two meetings this this coming week.

And there'll be more.

>> When it comes to the school level cuts, the mental health practitioners were reinstated.

That was initially on the chopping block and that they are going to stay in schools.

But another point of contention are these academic instructional coaches.

And so those, as I understand it, will be available to the schools as they are able to afford them.

>> Yes.

Well, it's twofold.

Schools will be allowed to purchase an academic coach if they so desire, but we will.

There are approximately 160 plus academic coaches.

About half of them will be centralized.

And by saying that, it means that they will undergo intensive professional development, intensive training so that we can deploy them out to schools, deploy them out to classrooms to really improve, increase the classroom instruction.

Because at the end of the day, although we are making cuts, we have to keep our promise to our taxpayers, to our parents, to our community that the quality of education, again, must be at a premier level.

And so we are actually realigning the coaches to do just that, to provide them with really intensive training and allow them to, I call it, increase the bar, higher the bar in terms of what teachers will be delivering in classrooms by providing support and coaching.

>> Does that mean some of the poorer schools that may need more academic instructional coaches may not be able to have them?

>> Well, the academic coaches that we have at central will be deployed out to schools, especially in areas where there there's great need.

So every school will have access to an academic coach.

>> Okay.

And then what do you what do you tell parents who have I mean, you heard many parents at the board meeting and from from administrators and principals, teachers who are concerned about how these cuts are going to affect the schools directly?

>> Yes.

>> These are difficult times.

And these decisions, although these are not short term decisions.

We really have to look at long term impact.

So as we are cutting budgets, we are actually realigning to strengthen our academic outcomes for our students.

So yes, right now it seems as though again, things are not where they want them to be.

But long term we by realigning our positions, by getting individuals in place and providing the training, the supports that are there, we will see long term impact.

And that's what we have.

I don't want a superintendent or board to ever have to go through this again, and these processes we are putting in place will allow us to have a responsible budget to not ever have to face any type of deficit like we're facing right now.

>> Let's talk about the UN General Assembly underway right now.

JCPS again in the spotlight with many of these bills, a lot of different proposals out there to a split up the district, which has been talk of that for a while, and another bill is proposing to give more local control to the superintendent.

What are your positions on on that legislation and what are you looking for right now in Frankfort?

>> So.

>> You know, I received a promise that they will not split up JCPS that I would be given some time to come in and make necessary changes and adjustments to do just to to get us to where we need to.

And, you know, I'm asking for that time, you know.

So again, things are underway.

We are right.

We are having a responsible budget.

Next, we'll be looking at academic outcomes and how we can improve there.

So, you know, all I can ask for is give me more time.

You know, I've been here just six months and I just need time to get everything in order.

And I believe that, you know, those in Frankfort will do just that.

And as far as you know, giving, you know, you mentioned, superintendent, I really have not spent enough time looking at that.

So I can't really speak to that.

But one thing I do know is that yes, we will improve our finances.

We'll get to a responsible budget, and yes, our academics will allow our students to thrive.

I just need more time.

>> What what kind of support are you looking for from Frankfort and Kentucky lawmakers?

What are you hoping would come out of Frankfort?

Maybe not this session, but in the future.

>> To look at the formulas that we have or SEEK formulas, because, again, transportation, making sure that that's funded at 100%, you know, the number of for multilingual students keep increasing over time.

And now that's a large portion of it's about 22% of our overall student population.

We want the formula to to align with that.

And so that we can receive adequate funding.

So we can address, you know, those areas or special needs population making sure that there's adequate funding there.

So again, all I will ask is that the funding formulas that are in existence, that they do help us to address the rising costs, the inflation that's associated with programs.

And, you know, just help us with those rising costs and stay true to the formula.

>> What about teacher pay?

I know that's a concern also with all of these cuts.

And I know there there were promises of stipends to teachers who are choosing to teach in that choice zone.

What happens there?

>> Yes.

Well, you know, I believe they need to be incentives.

I am 100% for incentives, but we must have incentives that we can truly afford, you know, and that's where we are.

We're looking at what can we truly afford in these budget conditions, because we do want to provide those incentives.

But what what can that look like?

>> Do you have a message to parents and teachers who are watching?

>> Yes.

You know.

>> I know these are tough times, and I know that these are times that are filled with uncertainty.

But again, we're very purposeful with what we're doing, and the expectation is that we get stronger as a school, that we build trust with our parents and community, and that we continue to have students at the pinnacle of what we do.

We must maintain that.

>> You can watch and share this episode anytime online at Keturah Louisville.

Plus, you can find out more when you follow us on social media.

We're on Instagram at KETinLOU.

Thanks for spending a little time getting to know Louisville.

I hope we'll see you here next time.

Until then, make it a great week!