LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A Jefferson County Public Schools family says their sixth grader's bus stop now requires her to walk along a county road with no sidewalk and no shoulder, and the district has denied four requests to change it.
JCPS buses dropped off children in Trish Russell's driveway for 16 years. This school year, the district moved the stop for her granddaughter, sixth grader Preslee Havey, more than half a mile down the road.
"When we called them they were like it's not a mistake we've moved your bus stop and we mentioned there's absolutely no way because there's no sidewalks. There's no way for her to get here unless she walks on the road," Russell said.
Havey has a broken leg and is currently on crutches. "It's been broken since May," she said.
Part of the route is on a hill with woods on the other side, along a road with traffic. "This is the curve right here where everybody ends up in the ditch," Russell said.
To avoid walking in the road, Havey would have to navigate obstacles along the way. "If I'm walking in the grass then I have to go under trees or around brushes," she said.
Preslee's bus passes directly in front of the family's home every day. "It's not like they have to create a special route for just our stop," Russell said.
Before the school year started, Russell appealed to the district. "We got a denial letter saying this has been rejected," she said.
The family filed another dispute, and JCPS moved the bus stop directly across the street from the original stop, keeping the same route but requiring Havey to also cross the busy road.
"We are currently at our fifth request and we've got four denials," Russell said.
Russell offered to show the district video of the walk. "They said they did not need to see the video that they base their decision on the mapping," she said.
WDRB asked JCPS how the district determines if a bus stop is safe, and why Preslee's stop can't be moved back to her driveway. A spokesperson told WDRB someone would check on it, but did not provide answers before this was posted.
For now, Preslee's family takes turns leaving work early to pick her up. "Every single day," Russell said.
Havey has a message for the district. "You should not drop me off down there because it's a dangerous road, and people go like 50 hundred miles per hour and people should not drive like that because there's little children trying to get to their home safely," she said.
Copyright 2026 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
