Jefferson County Public Schools parents do not have this year's school scores on the public card yet. The Kentucky Department of Education special DAC email of September 30, 2026 confirms the public release for Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern. Districts get the numbers under embargo on Tuesday, October 13, at 8 a.m. Eastern, and the media gets them that afternoon, so your school may already know before you do.
JCPS Insider rechecked KDE's School Report Card resources page on October 9, 2026. That page, published September 28, 2026, still calls October 15 a tentative date. The September 30 email is the confirmation.
KDE's dataset page, republished October 8, 2026, still listed 2024 to 2025 as the newest files on October 9. Financial figures are on a later clock. The resources page puts that public release in May 2027.
A Kentucky Summative Assessment score is not a course grade, and it is not the cutoff for promotion or a diploma. Course grades live in Campus Parent. The school card rates the school.
When does KDE say the card goes public?
Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. Eastern. KDE's September 30 notice confirms it.
The same notice says a 2026 state law, House Bill 500, makes each district and school post its reading and math proficient and distinguished percentages on its own website. KDE told districts to do that by Friday, October 30. If your school's site is still blank after that date, ask the principal why.
KDE's How to Prepare for Public Release document for 2026 says the state is in the process of releasing 2025 to 2026 assessment and accountability data. It does not print a different public day. Read the year label on the dashboard before you trust a screenshot.
The paper with your child's name is a separate delivery. The September 21, 2026 Monday DAC email says Pearson will begin mailing paper individual student reports on Wednesday, September 30, and all districts should receive them by October 6. Districts are provided with two copies of each report, one for the district and one to be shared with parents or guardians. The public School Report Card is a separate release. KDE's September 15, 2025 assessment email and the November 3, 2025 email describe last year's mailing only. They are not a new promise for this year's paper.
What do the six state indicators cover?
KDE's 2026 release document lists six indicators, not one color.
They are state assessment results in reading and mathematics; state assessment results in science, social studies, and writing; English learner progress; quality of school climate and safety; postsecondary readiness for high schools only; and graduation rate for high schools only. Each indicator is judged on status, meaning this year's result, and change, meaning the difference from the year before. The public rating is a color. From highest to lowest, the colors are blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. KDE's October 10, 2022 report card changes said stars are no longer used.
The fields parents should copy are reading and math status, change, the Novice share, graduation if it is a high school, attendance, and one student group. Those are not the six official indicators, and they are not 2026 school percentages. Those percentages are not public.
What does the proficiency number count?
It counts how students scored on the state tests, not the grade in the class.
On KDE's assessment results page, published July 17, 2025, proficiency means reaching the desired level of knowledge and skills on the state required tests. The performance levels are Novice, worth 0 points; Apprentice, worth one half point; Proficient, worth 1 point; and Distinguished, worth 1.25 points. Those points feed the indicator. A percent proficient and distinguished is the figure people quote. It leaves Novice and Apprentice out of the headline number.
The KSA page, updated July 15, 2026, says the Kentucky Summative Assessment covers grades 3 through 8, 10, and 11, and that 2025 to 2026 reading and mathematics did not include grade 11. KDE's 2025 to 2026 assessment FAQ treats grade 11 reading and math as the SAT junior state administration. The college admissions page, also updated July 15, 2026, says grade 11 students take a college admissions exam in spring 2027 and marks the vendor details as coming soon. That page does not rename the tests already given.
Reading and mathematics is the heaviest indicator. The July 17, 2025 page puts it at 51 percent of the elementary score, 46 percent in middle school, and 45 percent in high school. One reading and math figure can move the color more than anything else on the card.
Is Change the same thing as a child growing?
No. Change compares the school's result this year with the school's result last year.
KDE's accountability overview says individual student growth was not in the exclusive list of state indicators in KRS 158.6455. Change is the difference in the group's performance from the prior year to the current year. The students in this year's grade are not the same roster as last year's grade. A school can post a strong change and still have a low status.
The exception is narrow. Status for English learners includes growth on the English language proficiency exam. That table is not a schoolwide growth ranking, and it is not a reason to treat a blue dial as proof that every child moved up.
Which graduation number is the high school figure?
High schools get a graduation rate. Elementary and middle cards do not.
KDE's Accountability at a Glance, dated July 2024 by the Office of Assessment and Accountability, says Kentucky averages the four year adjusted cohort rate and an extended five year rate. It also says a four year rate less than 80 percent is a mark for Comprehensive Support and Improvement. That label is about the school. The 2026 release document still lists graduation rate as a high school indicator. It does not print a new formula. Read the four year rate and the averaged rate as two sentences, not one trophy.
Where do attendance and a group comparison show up?
Attendance is reported on the card. It is not one of the six indicators that set this fall's color.
KDE's October 23, 2023 report card changes said attendance rate and chronic absenteeism were included again. The dataset index republished October 8, 2026 still groups student attendance with the current report card domains. No later KDE note checked October 9 removed the attendance rate. KDE's Attendance Matters page, published September 24, 2026, defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10 percent or more of the enrolled year for any reason, excused or unexcused. The attendance data standard, revised July 28, 2026, says that figure is provided for the school and district report card, and that starting in 2026 to 2027 chronic absenteeism will be part of the accountability system under House Bill 257. For the card timed to this October, do not treat the absence rate as if it already owns the color.
The comparison across groups is real, and it is not a single gap score. The 2026 release document says status and change are reported for all students as a group and separately for individual groups. KDE's July 2024 glance says a demographic group needs at least 30 students in that indicator, at that school level, before the group is included in the accountability math. A blank group is not automatically a zero. It may be too small to publish, or too small to count.
Why read the Novice share?
Novice is a performance level, and it is worth no points.
A school can post a proficiency percent that looks ordinary while a large share of students are still at Novice. The points system makes Distinguished worth more than Proficient, and Novice worth nothing. If you only screenshot proficient and distinguished, you skip the students the indicator is least willing to credit. Participation is a different line. KDE's October 10, 2022 report card changes moved assessment participation into the accountability domain. The 2026 release document does not list participation as one of the six indicators. If the new card shows a participation figure, read it. Do not invent one if the row is missing.
What should you open if the card posts?
Open reportcard.kyschools.us and read the year before the color.
If the year still says 2024 to 2025, the new release is not the page in front of you. What follows is a parent checklist, not the six official indicators that set the color. When 2025 to 2026 is actually up, write down reading and math status, the change from last year, the Novice share, the graduation rate if the school is a high school, the attendance figure, and one student group next to the all students line. Then stop. Those are school numbers. Attendance stays off the color. They are not your child's course grades.