LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As Jefferson County Public Schools scrambles to solve its self-inflicted "transportation disaster," the district may draw upon the help of one of the world's most sophisticated logistics companies, which happens to have a major presence in Louisville.
UPS on Thursday morning offered its expertise in transportation and logistics to help JCPS sort out busing delays, UPS spokesman Jim Mayer said.
"We have had a conversation about whether it would be useful for us to offer help," Mayer told WDRB News.
Neither the company nor the school district was able to say whether any collaboration will materialize.
"We appreciate the strong community partnership we have with UPS and we are setting up a meeting with them," JCPS spokeswoman Carolyn Callahan said in an email.
UPS, the shipping giant based in Atlanta, handles hundreds of cargo flights and sorts millions of packages daily at its Worldport global air hub at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.
UPS is Louisville's largest employer with about 26,000 employees.
The first day of JCPS' school year Wednesday was so mired in busing delays and complications that Superintendent Marty Pollio called off school for Thursday and Friday to allow the district time to sort through the problems.
Under Pollio's "Smart Start" plan, the district upended schedules by adopting a series of staggered starting and ending times for schools, a move meant to solve busing challenges that Pollio said left too many kids missing instructional time.
But the rollout of the new plan went terribly wrong on Wednesday, with many elementary schools keeping students hours past school dismissal while they waited on buses and some students not arriving at bus stops until 10 pm.
"Change is hard and the massive change we are undertaking is extremely difficult," Pollio said in a video message released Thursday morning. "But in the end, that can't be the excuse. We have to be better at what we are doing … It's on me and my team, and we are going to fix this."
Related Stories:
- JCPS schools should be closed next week to address Wednesday's 'disaster,' bus union leadership says
- JCPS bus routes generated by software with flawed track record in another district
- JCPS cancels school Thursday and Friday because of major transportation issues
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