LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County School Board member Linda Duncan said the problem facing Louisville's public schools transportation system is too many students needing a ride from too few bus drivers.
Like many districts across the country, Jefferson County Public Schools is dealing with a bus driver shortage, having to cut routes for a district that serves around 65,000 bussed students. At the beginning of this school year, the last student didn't get off the bus until about 10 p.m. on the first day, prompting district leaders to cancel school for a week to improve logistics.
"We have got to figure out in some way how to reduce the number of kids that are on transportation," Duncan said Friday.
The district plans to hold its next board meeting Sept. 26, where there will be a transportation presentation. JCPS spokesperson Carolyn Callahan said the board will "hear about the current state of transportation and options for moving forward in the future."
This year, the district moved to staggered start times, cutting the number of bus routes needed and hoping to help out with transportation issues. The district said, at times, buses had arrived to school more than two hours late last school year. But many families have concerns over bus routes this school year with the new start times, particularly with late drop-offs getting back home.
"I'm afraid our staff needs some hope that this is not going to be an all-year situation but I'm afraid it is going to be," Duncan said. "This is what it's going to look like for the rest of the year, because we've not heard any other ideas about how to reduce riders."
The transition wasn't smooth to kick off this school year, district leaders quickly admitted.
"I have more concerns ahead of me on this staggered start time issue," Duncan said. "I would not be a fan of this if it were not an absolute necessity. It's the only thing we have in front of us right now so I have to hope it works the best that it can."
Superintendent Marty Pollio said in a board meeting last month that, in an ideal world, they'd have 850 routes. Instead, JCPS has fewer than 600.
"We're doing the best we can with 540 drivers," Duncan said. "But 540 drivers for 65,000 students is quite a challenge. ... Really, the conversation is more about how do we reduce our riders."
To help transport K-12 students, JCPS held off on starting it's early childhood program on time. It's now set to begin next week — with a scaled-back transportation plan — about a month after it was expected to begin.
JCPS said pending board approval, stipends could be available for parents/guardians who provide their own transportation to and from early childhood centers.
Duncan said she's in favor of the idea, even outside of the pre-K students, if it means decreasing the number of bus riders.
"I think we need to be thinking along that line for our other schools that don't have attendance zones," she said.
JCPS said the idea of stipends is only for early childhood students, not districtwide. The proposal will go to the board at the Sept. 26 meeting.
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