LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Jefferson County School Board member said the U.S. Department of Justice is looking at data on how multilingual student at Kenwood Elementary School are supported as the arrive off late buses.

Linda Duncan said there is no official DOJ investigation at this point, but someone complained about multilingual students at Kenwood missing class time because of late buses, part of a larger issue that has plagued Jefferson County Public Schools since classes resumed for the year in August.

What started with the district canceling six days of class to figure out how to better implement its new busing plan has continued with student fights, driver shortages and multi-hour delays.

"We are responding to the questions the U.S. Attorney's Office is asking," a JCPS spokesperson said in a written statement, adding that there's no investigation to their knowledge. "The committed staff at Kenwood is doing its best to ensure that every student has the instructional time they need and deserve regardless of any ongoing issues with late-arriving school buses."

JCPS spokesman Mark Hebert said the U.S. Attorney’s Office first contacted JCPS in late September, and this is the first time since at least 2018 that there have been questions from that office.

Duncan said Kenwood does well with multilingual students.

"Their progress there is among the best, so a complaint surprises me," she said. "... I have been there when kids go to the cafeteria to wait for late afternoon buses; that’s when teachers are working with kids on missed instruction. Kenwood has among the best growth scores for (multilingual learners) in the state. They do their job."

The DOJ hasn't returned requests for comment.

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