LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) is working to fix its transportation issues ahead of Friday when students return to school.

The first day last Wednesday was plagued with bus delays in the morning and the afternoon as the district had implemented new school start times and bus routes. Some students' buses never showed up that morning, and others didn't get dropped off from school that evening until almost 10 p.m.

JCPS decided to cancel classes for Thursday and Friday and later extended that closure to include Monday and Tuesday of this week. Monday, the district said schools would remain closed Wednesday and Thursday before implementing a "staggered" return.

On Tuesday, JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said T-Mobile and Edulog are working on an app that will allow parents to know where their child's bus is at all times, and send them notifications when a bus is running late.

"Unfortunately, this is technology that most large districts in the nation have that we do not, which was very disappointing to me," Pollio said. "So that is being changed immediately."

Parents will use the Edulog Parent Portal Lite app once it is ready. It shows users when a school bus is scheduled to pick up and drop off a student. Parents can turn on notifications to be alerted when a bus comes within a certain distance of their homes.

Pollio said the hope was to have that technology "ready to go" by, "at a minimum," early next week.

JCPS' goal is to have the app ready to go for school's use by Friday. This way, parents can call their child's school and staff can pinpoint where the bus is.

When parents sign up, they will be instructed to enter in student's information and select bus routes to track. This information will need to be verified by the district, then parents will be granted access to tracking information. To address further privacy concerns, Edulog's website said only registered parents will be able to access their child's information. 

JCPS said representatives from Edulog are in town and currently working with the district to prepare for its rollout.

According to Edulog's website, once GPS technology is installed on a bus, its tracking data should be available immediately. JCPS transportation information says the district has 1,250 buses. It is unclear if all 1,250 buses will have the GPS technology installed. 

The district has also made changes to its Transportation Command Center. Last week, the Transportation Command Center only had four people, but it will now have 15 people. After only having eight people answer phones at the Call Center last week, the district will now have 20 people.

There will also be increased support to double check office after-hours features on voicemail, and making sure someone is answering calls until all students are home. 

Pollio said he's been in touch with bus depots to determine which drivers need a "shoulder buddy" to help them navigate areas they may be unfamiliar with on their routes. They'll provide access to GPS to help assist the driver on the most difficult routes.

WDRB News asked JCPS if the district was able to get 75 "buddies." JCPS said almost 200 teachers and staff volunteered to help.

JCPS also plans to have additional staff riding buses with access to GPS to help assist the driver with directions on the most difficult routes.

A JCPS bus driver said drivers know their routes, but sometimes there are unpredictable changes. It's also different driving with students on the bus.

"Kids add a completely different element to the bus and I think that that's what we're kind of experiencing on first days," said JCPS bus driver Elizabeth Foushee. "And we might know the route but a kid can switch it up very quickly."

Some drivers said there were too many stops on routes. JCPS has worked to reduce the longest routes and transfer some stops to other drivers, so a student's bus number or bus stop might be different now.

JCPS is making plans to make changes to routes, including: 

  • Efficiency: Significant route improvement for time
  • Time reduction: Reducing lengthy routes
  • Daycare: Door-to-door routes updated
  • Special needs transportation: Information delivered to schools through ECE Department
  • Additional resources for short-term support: Buses, vans and fleet vehicles at bus depots and compounds

Only elementary and middle school students are scheduled to return to class on Friday. High schoolers are planned to return on Monday.

Families can utilize the JCPS Bus Finder portal by clicking here.

To look at the Transportation Update presentation, click here.

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