JCPS Board member acknowledges 'mistake' in multiple start times, as district considers options

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The move by Jefferson County Public Schools to have nine different start times was "a mistake," according to school board member, Linda Duncan.

"I didn't vote for it, so, I considered it a mistake at the time," she said. "We need to back up, see if we can get into two start times." Two start times is what the district had for years until this school year.

Carolyn Callahan, JCPS' Chief of Communications tells WDRB News, "As we’ve said, if we had remained at 2 start times, we would have more than 800 bus routes and would be in a worse situation than we are currently.

There are no plans to go back to two start times. "

Almost halfway through the school year, JCPS continues to struggle with late buses and a shortage of bus drivers. The district will address the problems in a new report during a Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 5. A 15 page Transportation Update is expected to be discussed.

Amid the ongoing driver shortage, the district is down nearly half of the 1,080 bus drivers it had in 2015. There are currently just 574, which doesn't account for those who call out.

JCPS said an average of 51 drivers call out sick each day, most frequently on Mondays and Fridays.

JCPS is looking at several options.

Eliminating transportation for all magnet and traditional schools would cut 100 to 110 buses.
Transporting just free and reduced lunch students to magnet schools would cut 35 to 45 buses.
Offering a parent stipend for high school transportation could save the district 15 to 25 buses.

Duncan said a possible stipend could be $25 a week -- just like what's given to Early Childhood parents, but she thinks it should include more parents.

"I'm saying add more, the ones that have their kids in schools that they've chosen that are magnets or traditionals or in other cases, the A5's," Duncan said. A5's include alternative schools.

Late buses continue to contribute to the district's transportation issues.

According to a new report, the district said the last students are getting home consistently at 7 p.m. That's half an hour past JCPS' goal of 6:30 p.m.

"Well, it's unacceptable. To me, that's a fail," Duncan said.

The report, however, does not address how late some buses are getting to school in the mornings, which some parents told WDRB News is a big problem.

"Just know that we're working on this. We know this is not right. We are regretful that this has done this to everybody's lives, and we're very much looking for a better way to do this next year," Duncan said.

Since October, JCPS said it has tried to address bus drivers' concerns about student behavior. The district launched a new referral system two weeks ago, aimed at providing drivers with more support.

"We really do want them to feel, 'Hey, we're taking some resources, we're shifting them, because we understand the need and the desire to want to better support them,' so that's what we're doing," Dr. Matt Anderson, assistant superintendent for Climate and Culture, said earlier this month.

The district also wants to create a "routing team" and dedicate more staff to deal with bus routes and address problems.

District leadership has already started meeting with several transportation technology companies, looking for solutions to the issues in the years to come.

This comes as the U.S. Attorney's Office also looks into the district's bus delays. WDRB News obtained 20 pages of emails including questions U.S. Attorneys asked JCPS.

Federal officials asked JCPS about bus level and school level data districtwide for late buses, before and after fall break, which went from Oct. 3-6.

JCPS was also asked about how the school district is implementing education for multilingual and special education students, specifically at Kenwood Elementary School.

Data in those documents showed that, for one week, more than 400 Kenwood students missed an average of 10 minutes of instruction time. There are fewer than 600 students at Kenwood.

JCPS said Kenwood is making sure every student gets enough instructional time, regardless of bus issues.

Duncan says Tuesday's Board Meeting will be a lot of discussion and she's not anticipating a vote.

As far as when a decision on any busing changes will be made, she said, "I wish we had made it before Showcase (of Schools). That was the opportune moment to get the decision out there, we didn't. I would say we'll probably make this (decision) by the first of the year."

Callahan said. "We are not doing any on-camera interviews before Board presentations. I expect a vote by the Board on transportation for next year to take place in late February or March."

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