Woman hired to be top aide to JCPS Superintendent Donna Hargens turns down job

Questions clouded Hargens' aide pick

This from C-J:

A woman who was hired earlier this week to be a top aide to Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Donna Hargens turned down the job Friday after questions were raised about her background.

Jamilah Fraser, who was to become the district’s chief diversity, community relations and communications officer on March 12, sent Hargens a letter Friday afternoon saying she was not accepting the job.


A news release from the district noted that the decision to hire her had been “spotlighted” in the media and said Fraser decided not to accept the post “in light of recent events.”

In an email sent to The Courier-Journal on Friday, Fraser said she was shocked to read media coverage of her "short time" with the Philadelphia school district.

“My time in Philadelphia was spent dealing with one major crisis after another and I dealt with each one in an ethical manner,” she wrote. “I have really looked forward to working with Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Dr. Donna Hargens. However, an inaccurate, negative picture has been painted of who I am. In light of this, I believe it would be difficult to build the relationship necessary between myself and district administration to doing the important work on behalf of Jefferson County students and parents."

In an interview Friday, Hargens said she was “confident in my decision to select Fraser for the position.”

“In the end, I think she felt it was in her best interest and that of the district” to not come to Louisville, Hargens said. “I respect her decision, but I still think she was a solid candidate who would have served this district well.”

Linda Duncan, a Jefferson County school board member who expressed concerns over Fraser’s hiring earlier this week, said Friday that as superintendent, Hargens “has the right to pick who she wants to work with.

“I just hoped it would be someone that didn’t have so much controversy,” Duncan said.

Fraser resigned suddenly last August from her previous job with Philadelphia Public Schools after she was accused of running a personal public-relations campaign for the outgoing superintendent, according to published reports...