LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — JCPS’ top health official resigned earlier this month, saying proposed budget cuts to her department could put student health at risk and that decisions were made without her input.
Eva Stone, who has led Jefferson County Public Schools Health Services since 2018, said she learned through media reports that nearly $7 million in cuts had been proposed for her division.
Under Stone’s leadership, JCPS expanded health services, including growing from 24 school nurses to a nurse in every school. The district expanded access to vaccines for children, offered free physicals to employees, stocked more emergency medicines on site and helped secure free glasses for students without insurance. Stone said the work can be life-or-death, citing emergencies such as severe allergic reactions and asthma attacks.
JCPS reports more than 36,000 student health conditions and nearly 400,000 visits to school nurses.
In an interview with WDRB, Stone said she was not consulted about where cuts should be made. "I’m a clinician. If we are going to make decisions that impact kids clinically, why would there not be a sit-down discussion about what things look like?" she said.
Stone also described what she said would be lost beyond staffing and line items. "What we do isn’t a number. It’s me looking at this child who is sharing glasses with his sibling because he doesn’t have any and telling that parent we’re able to help with that," she said.
Stone said she emailed Dr. Yearwood and every board member after learning of the proposed cuts in January, warning that shifting health care responsibilities to secretaries and bookkeepers "places both students and staff at risk." She also said in part "I have not received any internal communication or specific details about what is included in this reduction."
She urged district leaders not to approve the cuts and to prioritize maximizing Medicaid billing, something she said she had advocated for but was not heard. Stone said the only response she received was from board member Taylor Everett.
Stone said she was still not consulted in the months that followed.
The proposed cuts were later revised. Stone said the final reductions included five nurse practitioners, the district epidemiologist, a $500,000 cut to agency nurses and ending summer work for eight nurse practitioners who had been working year-round.
Despite the changes, Stone said the board has maintained it plans to keep a nurse in every school, but she said she did not know how the district would afford that under the new budget. WDRB asked the district how it would still afford a nurse at every school given the cuts but has received a response.
Stone resigned the same day the district announced her department would move under Alicia Averette who was named executive officer of Student Support and Community Engagement in May.
In her resignation letter, Stone wrote, "I cannot reconcile continuing in this role following the district’s decision to hire an assistant superintendent whose documented leadership history reflects concerns related to employee treatment."
Averette, who Stone previously worked under, is named in an open lawsuit accusing her of creating a hostile workplace. Stone is not a plaintiff, but the lawsuit names her and alleges Averette isolated Stone, refused to let her attend team meetings, intentionally attempted to sabotage her work and kept her from doing her job on multiple occasions until the district moved Stone to a different department.
In the interview, Stone said the decision to leave was emotional. "I’m grieving, I’m grieving," she said.
Stone said her position will be filled, but she said the issue is bigger than her and involves the future of student health services in JCPS.
Averette said "I disagree with former employees’ characterization that I created a hostile environment by micromanaging, isolating, or punishing employees under me," in a statement to WDRB.
A JCPS spokesperson told WDRB, "We are thankful for Dr. Stone's dedication and passion for our JCPS students. We appreciate all she has done to improve access to healthcare for our students and families. Yes, the position will be posted and follow our regular hiring process. No services are being cut from health services, it was a trimming of the overall health services budget which fluctuates based on student need."
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