LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools officials said bus routes were delayed Friday morning after 87 drivers called out.
The district said the last student was dropped off at 7:18 p.m. That's later than last Friday, when the last student made it home at 7:05 p.m., but earlier than two weeks before.
Drivers said Thursday they planned to call-out Friday and Monday, taking a stand against what they said is a lack of student discipline and long bus routes.
JCPS has already faced consistent driver shortages this school year, sometimes seeing delays of three to four hours getting kids to class. Typically, district leaders said call-outs on Fridays range from 45-60 drivers.
"There are delays, absolutely," Carolyn Callahan, a JCPS spokeswoman, said Friday. "JCPS has never canceled a bus route. That is something that most other districts do do. We have never done that. We delay routes."
John Stovall, president of the bus drivers' union, said student discipline is the biggest issue.
"It's been going on but it's progressively gotten worse each year," he said Friday.
It's a similar testament a current driver who spoke to WDRB News anonymously shared.
"It's not gotten better," the driver said. "It's just we've gotten used to it at this point."
Berkley Collins, who has two children in JCPS, said her middle schooler's bus arrived without any issues. But she kept her elementary student home Friday concerned about potential delays for the afternoon drop-off.
"Today I just didn't want to take that risk with my youngest and just kept her home," she said.
Tierra Crenshaw helps her family navigate getting her younger siblings to and from school. She said her siblings' buses were late Friday, but added their buses are typically late.
"It's really disruptive in the mornings, unfortunately," Crenshaw said. "This wasn't my first time being late to work because of buses."
One former JCPS bus driver, who wanted to remain anonymous, said Friday she left her job in 2022 after five years because of how bad it had gotten.
"There was no enforcement of any consequences with any of the students on the bus no matter what the infraction was," she said. "Referrals were being left unheard."
She said the district needs to start listening to drivers, and buses need more trained monitors to keep kids in line.
"These buses are completely out of control, and the drivers are just trying to bring insight to that for the district to finally listen and say 'This has become such a problem that we're not going to continue to deal with it,'" the former driver said.
The current driver said she's filed four referrals this past week, all for students who attend the same school.
"Same behaviors, not wanting to sit down, cussing like sailors, flipping over seats while I'm driving," the current drive said.
Collins worries Monday could come with the same issues. It was originally a day the district was out, but classes will be in session, making up some of the time when JCPS canceled classes at the start of the school year due to transportation issues.
Unsure of what to expect, Stovall said bus drivers are calling out on their own.
"I figure it'll probably be about the same amount," he said Friday. "They want to get their voice heard."
The current driver said to expect more drivers to call out Monday, since it was the original target day for a call-out.
JCPS leaders said they're listening to complaints from drivers. A big change in the works deals with the referral process if a student misbehaves on a bus, which will move from a paper system — where the bus driver hands off a note to the compound coordinator who then sorts through those and sends them to school administration — to an online system, getting straight to the school in real-time.
Bus drivers can also follow up and see if an action has been taken on that referral.
"That is a direct response of the conversations that have been have with bus drivers and compound coordinators to work better in that situation," Callahan said.
Related Stories:
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
