JCPS, halfway through summer, lays out plan to incorporate TARC bus drivers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- With Jefferson County Public Schools students returning to the classroom in six weeks, the district continues to work on improving transportation for this coming school year.

Part of its plan to improve includes incorporating TARC drivers, which may allow the district to restore transportation for some magnet and traditional school students.

The district said 70 TARC drivers are expected to transition over to JCPS, a deal worked out between the school district and city's public transit system, as TARC deals with a financial crisis. The drivers otherwise risked being laid off.

The plan is for drivers to be trained throughout July, bid for routes after JCPS drivers have done so, and practice routes.

TARC drivers will not be behind the wheel of a school bus on the first day of school, unless they previously drove for JCPS. The district plans to have drivers shadow school bus drivers during the first few weeks of school.

By the end of July, JCPS then hopes it will have a number of how many TARC drivers will commit to driving for them. The district also expects retirements to be submitted at the end of June and July.

The number of drivers it anticipates hiring was not discussed at Tuesday's board meeting.

Once the numbers are solidified, JCPS then plans to plug its available drivers to any routes without a driver. As of now, Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said it is 14 drivers short "to be fully on time, efficient with transportation plan that is passed at this moment."

The new transportation plan eliminates busing as an option for thousands of students that attend traditional and magnet schools or programs, with the exception of Central and Western high schools because both schools have more than 75% of students on free or reduced lunch.

After open spots are filled in the current transportation plan, it will then review restoring routes for magnet and traditional school students. As of now, JCPS said it will consider regions where more students are "in-need," such as south and west Louisville. The option to restore transportation will also only be available for students who have a 7:30 a.m. start time, because it is the only start time out of three that includes depot runs.

"We cannot add depots into 8:30 and 9:30 start time, I want to be clear that will not happen. We would have to have over 700 bus drivers to do that, so we will target that 7:30 start time which have depots," Pollio said.

Board Member Sarah McIntosh, who represents District 7 including southeast Louisville, asked the district to consider other "in-need" areas when it reviews restoring some transportation for magnet and traditional school students.

Parents are also skeptical of JCPS's approach when it comes to deciding which areas are "in-need."

"You can't pick and choose schools, that's not fair, it's not right," said JCPS parent Leslie Holt.

In addition to sorting out drivers, JCPS has had its new internal routing team working on this upcoming year's routes.

Chief Operations Officer Rob Fulk said the routing team is ahead of schedule to route for next year and 65% routes will mirror in the morning and afternoon.

Pollio also reminded the board of incentives for bus drivers. Some highlights include the lowest pay for a JCPS bus driver is $29 an hour, longevity pay has increased, a $2,000 bonus for new drivers that already have a CDL, a $4,000 bonus for new drivers that have a CDL with a school bus endorsement, and increased referral incentive from $200 to $500.

JCPS also said it hopes to bring more information in the coming weeks about stipends for families whose students have lost transportation.

Pollio said families who qualify for free or reduced lunch will be eligible to receive $10 a day for transportation and families that do not qualify for free or reduced lunch will be eligible to receive $5 a day.

Transportation has been an ongoing problem for the school district, which has left parents frustrated and with limited options.

"We hope she's on a bus because that's part of getting her to school," said JCPS parent Mark Meunier. "We pay taxes every year and that's part of it, diesel fuel, school buses, school bus drivers ... Don't tell me it's not a right when we pay taxes to get transportation and it's a privilege."

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