No Jefferson County Public Schools cafeteria scored below 96 on a health inspection in the 2024 to 2025 school year, the 2025 to 2026 school year or so far this fall, according to the district's own tracking sheets. JCPS released them to JCPS Insider on October 19, 2026, in response to an open records request.
The lowest score on those sheets is a 96 at duPont Manual High on August 18, 2026. Louisville Metro's public inspection data shows a second 96 the district's sheet doesn't have yet: Meyzeek Middle on September 24, 2026.
Across 651 scores on the JCPS sheets, the average is 99.7 out of 100, by JCPS Insider's count. Just over three in four are a perfect 100.
What did JCPS release, and what did it leave out?
The release is three files: an Excel workbook covering 2024 to 2025, plus one page PDFs for 2025 to 2026 and 2026 to 2027. Each lists a school, an inspection date and a score, usually twice a year.
These are scores only. The district's sheets don't include the inspection reports, so they don't show which items an inspector marked or why points came off. This piece doesn't guess at what they say.
Some details from the sheets:
The 2024 to 2025 workbook lists 151 locations. Two have no scores: Goldsmith Elementary, marked "Permitted under Seneca," and Waller William Primary, marked "No longer exists."
The 2025 to 2026 sheet lists 150 locations, and 148 have scores.
The fall 2026 sheet lists 148 locations. As of the release, 60 have a score, and 4 are marked "Needs Copy": Carrithers Middle, Hite Elementary, Layne Elementary and Olmsted Academy South.
A few dates are plainly mistyped, including a Waggener High inspection printed as October 23, 2026, and a Medora Elementary date printed as 2006. Metro's records put those in 2025 and 2026.
The workbook's two tabs disagree twice. Fern Creek Elementary's spring 2025 inspection reads "Needs Copy" on one tab and 100 on the other, and Wheeler Elementary's spring date reads March 6 on one and March 24 on the other.
Who inspects JCPS school kitchens?
The Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness inspects school cafeterias in Jefferson County. Metro publishes a separate public file just for school kitchens, the Inspection Results School Food Service dataset, listing the three most recent inspections for each site.
Under 7 CFR 210.13, schools "shall obtain a minimum of two food safety inspections during each school year" from a state or local food safety agency. The same rule says schools "shall post in a publicly visible location a report of the most recent inspection conducted, and provide a copy of the inspection report to a member of the public upon request."
How does the 100 point inspection score work?
Metro's inspection form has 58 items, according to the Metro food manager study booklet. "Each item is assigned a point value of 1, 2 or 3 points for a total of 100 points." An inspector marks each item in compliance, out of compliance, not applicable or not observed.
So a 96 means items worth 4 points were marked out of compliance on that visit, whether one item or several.
The items fall into two groups. The booklet says "Priority items that are out of compliance result in a failed inspection. Core items that are out of compliance do not result in a failed inspection."
In a March 1, 2024 explainer, Metro said an A means the site "meets the requirements of the Kentucky State Food Code without priority violations at the time of inspection." A C means it "failed to meet the minimum requirements." A B means a site passed a follow up after failing twice in a row, or reopened after a closure.
The grade, not the score, tells you whether a priority item was out of compliance. In Metro's school file, Holy Cross High School, a private school at 5144 Dixie Hwy, drew a C with a 97 on March 23, 2026. Beth Haven, at 5515 Johnsontown Rd, kept an A with a 90 on August 31, 2026. Every JCPS inspection in that file, which covers each school's last three visits, carries an A.
The booklet says Metro will order a closure if a site "earns < 60 points," or for an imminent hazard like no water, no electricity, sewage or an infestation. The sheets show no closures.
Did every JCPS school pass, and which scored lowest?
Yes. Across the three sheets, 150 JCPS schools and sites have at least one score, and all 651 scores fall between 96 and 100. As noted above, every JCPS inspection in Metro's school file carries an A.
Because every school passed, we aren't printing all 150 schools' scores. These are the only schools that scored 97 or below at any inspection on the district's sheets:
duPont Manual High: 96 on August 18, 2026.
Brown School: 97 on February 24, 2025.
McFerran Preparatory Academy: 97 on September 5, 2025.
Seneca High: 97 on September 18, 2025.
Stonestreet Elementary: 97 on August 11, 2026.
Semple Elementary: 97 on August 14, 2026.
Stuart Middle: 97 on August 19, 2026.
Engelhard Elementary: 97 on August 20, 2026.
Metro's file adds two this fall that aren't on the JCPS sheet: Meyzeek Middle at 96 on September 24, 2026, and McFerran at 97 again on September 1, 2026.
A 96 is still a high score. It's 36 points above Metro's closure line, and Manual's came with an A.
Some schools rarely hit 100 even though they never dipped low. On the JCPS sheets, Chancey Elementary scored 98 or 99 on all five of its inspections. The Academy at Shawnee went 0 for 4 on perfect scores, and so did Moore Traditional School, whose new 98 in Metro's file makes it 0 for 5. Rutherford Elementary was 0 for 4 on the sheets, but Metro's file shows it scored 100 on September 9, 2026.
At the other end, 63 schools, not counting Elev8, Heuser and the Lou Chew Food Trailer, scored 100 on every inspection listed on the JCPS sheets. With those three, it's 66 sites in all. Metro's file lists one of them, Fern Creek High, at 99 on September 17, 2025.
Where do the JCPS sheets and Metro's records disagree?
We checked the district's sheets against Metro's school food service file as it stood October 19, 2026. Most entries match.
Four scores on the JCPS sheets are higher than Metro's record for the same date:
Blue Lick Elementary, March 19, 2026: JCPS 100, Metro 99.
Fairdale High, February 24, 2026: JCPS 100, Metro 99.
Fern Creek High, September 17, 2025: JCPS 100, Metro 99.
Wilt Elementary, March 11, 2026: JCPS 100, Metro 98.
Minor Daniels Academy shows a 99 on November 18, 2025, on the JCPS sheet. Metro lists no inspection that day and a 100 on September 26, 2025. About a dozen other dates differ by days or weeks.
As of October 19, Metro listed fall 2026 inspections at 97 JCPS sites. The district's sheet has scores for 60. Metro already shows results for all four "Needs Copy" schools, ranging from 98 at Carrithers to 100 at Hite and Layne.
Nine JCPS sites on the district's sheets don't appear in Metro's school file, so their scores couldn't be checked against it: Liberty High, King Elementary, Zachary Taylor Elementary, Louisville Male High Annex, Young Elementary, Elev8 Learning Center, Heuser, the Lou Chew Food Trailer and Goldsmith Elementary, which the sheets say is permitted under Seneca.
Metro kept adding visits after the release. Its school file, rechecked October 29, 2026, shows 17 more JCPS inspections from October 19 through 23, including Bates, Butler, Crosby, Fern Creek High and Newburg. Western Middle and Crosby scored 99, and the other 15 scored 100. The district's internal sheet isn't the place to check your school's latest score.
How do I see my school's inspection or report a problem?
Start with your school. Under the federal rule above, the most recent inspection report should be posted where the public can see it, and the school should give you a copy if you ask. Ask the front office or the cafeteria manager.
For scores, use Metro's restaurant inspection score lookup or the school food service dataset, which carries the three most recent inspections for each site. That's the place to check a school not named in this story. Metro lists some schools under different names.
To report a food safety concern, Metro's June 27, 2025 bulletin says anyone can file through Metro311 online, by app or at 502 574 5000, or call the health department at 502 574 6650. Metro says "We investigate every complaint we receive."
If you think your child got sick from school food, the Metro Food Safety Program asks you to call 502 574 6650, press 2 for Food Safety and then 1 for Foodborne Illness, and to have a 48 hour food history ready. Metro also says to contact your doctor right away.
For questions about meals, menus or allergies, JCPS School and Community Nutrition Services is at 502 485 3186. Our Food and Nutrition guide covers free meals and lunch time, and our open records page explains how these requests work.