LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Transit Authority of River City (TARC) and Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) have reached an agreement that will save the jobs of about 70 TARC drivers who will be providing transportation for students at some JCPS magnet schools.
The announcement was made Monday morning at TARC headquarters near downtown Louisville after weeks of negotiations led by Mayor Greenberg, JCPS, TARC and community leaders.
During the news briefing, JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio joined Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and TARC officials to announce that transportation for several magnet schools will be restored for 2024-25 school year.
The agreement comes weeks after TARC said it plans to reduce routes and lay off as many as 70 drivers as part of a cost-cutting move. Now that an agreement has been reached, those drivers will not be let go, although service reductions are still planned and will become effective on June 30.
The drivers will still be considered TARC employees, with company benefits, and will earn the same salary as JCPS drivers.
JCPS needs to hire about 200 drivers to fully resolve its transportation issues according to district officials, but Pollio said an additional 70 drivers would help the school system restore some of the magnet bus routes for the most in-need families and children.
Once it became likely that an agreement would be reached between JCPS, TARC and union leaders, TARC proposed to move up the timeline for its plan to reduce the frequency of certain routes that was announced in April to make drivers available for the 2024-2025 school year.
TARC is losing 20 percent of its operational budget now that COVID relief money from the federal government has dried up.
The TARC Board will hold a final vote on the agreement on June 7.
"With this agreement we are able to accomplish our number one goal: to not lose our drivers to layoffs," TARC Interim Executive Director Ozzy Gibson said in a written statement.
Greenberg, Dr. Pollio, Gibson and others emphasized the agreement is a short-term solution for both JCPS and TARC.
JCPS said they will announce updated routes in the coming weeks once the district knows how many TARC drivers will apply for the jobs. Updates and information will be posted on the JCPS website.
Pollio also emphasized that more bus drivers are still needed for JCPS and encouraged everyone interested to apply by visiting JCPSBusDriver.com.
Related Content:
- Major implications at stake as TARC, JCPS negotiate agreement for drivers
- TARC service in Louisville could see 'service reductions' to help fix financial troubles
- Stress mounts for JCPS parents looking for transportation as alternative faces financial issues
- Louisville's bus system gets slashed after the funding well 'has run dry,' TARC leadership says
- TARC testing pilot program for on-demand ride share service in New Albany
- City offers looming TARC layoffs as a solution to hire more JCPS bus drivers
- TARC board approves budget that calls for service reductions in 2025
Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
