LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Jefferson County Public Schools is blaming a mapping error for moving a sixth grader's bus stop from her driveway to more than half a mile away along a road with no sidewalks.
The district moved Preslee Havey's bus stop back to her family's driveway less than 24 hours after WDRB first reported on the family's safety concerns last week.
Now, JCPS is explaining how the stop ended up there in the first place.
"During the initial setup process, a street restriction was not captured in the map configuration," the district said in a statement.
For 16 years, JCPS buses had stopped at the driveway of Preslee's grandmother, Trish Russell. But this school year, the district had moved Preslee's stop more than half a mile down a winding county road with a 35 mph speed limit, no sidewalks and no shoulder.
Preslee, a sixth grader who currently has a broken leg and is on crutches, would have to walk along the road to get home.
The family repeatedly asked JCPS to move the stop back. Before that approval finally went through, Russell said the family submitted five requests and received four denials.
She said the district told her its decisions were based on mapping and declined her offer to provide video showing the route Preslee would have to walk.
JCPS guidelines state students should not have to walk along roads with speed limits above 25 mph when there are no sidewalks.
During a school board meeting this week, WDRB asked JCPS Superintendent Brian Yearwood about the district's response after the stop was moved back.
"We took swift action. We corrected any issues that were there," Yearwood said. "The student now has a bus and is able to get to and from school safely."
When asked why the family's repeated complaints hadn't resulted in the change sooner, Yearwood said the district was still looking into what happened.
"We're still looking into that," Yearwood said. "Our number one priority is to make sure our students make it home to and from school safely."
JCPS said the mapping error was an isolated incident, not a software glitch. The district said it is putting additional safeguards in place to prevent similar mistakes.
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