FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- Two Kentucky lawmakers filed a bill Monday that would allow the state's public school districts to use passenger vehicles like vans to transports students to and from school.

Sponsored by Sens. David Yates, D-Louisville, and Robin Webb, D-Grayson, Senate Bill 92 will "revitalize student transportation across Kentucky," the Legislative Research Commission said in a news release Monday. It would allow people who do not have a Commercial Drivers License to drive children to and from school in "district-owned and district-leased passenger transportation vehicles."

"We have so many people who want to step up and help," Yates said in a news conference Monday in Frankfort. "This is an opportunity to allow our community to better engage, to help our kids get to and from school faster, safer and in a more efficient manner."

The LRC broke down the existing issues with student transportation into three problems and four proposed solutions:

  • Problem
    • Not enough drivers with CDLs
    • Inefficient bus routes
    • Long student commute times
  • Solution
    • Reserves CDL drivers for routes requiring full buses
    • Smaller vehicles used for rural routes with fewer students
    • Shorter student commute times improve student safety
    • Rigorous safety standards for non-CDL drivers

SB92 would require all vehicles be driven by district employees who are licensed drivers in Kentucky. It would call for extensive training implemented by the Kentucky Department of Education as well as federal background checks and traffic checks. If someone were to falsify anything related to those records, they'd be charged with a class D felony.

"We know the transportation system in Kentucky right now is strained. We don't have enough CDL drivers," Yates said. "This is a way to help alleviate that strain and make it a little bit safer for our children, more cost efficient and faster."

While the bill would have immediate impacts in some districts where students must be picked up and dropped off in rural areas, its obvious focus is aimed in Louisville, where Jefferson County Public Schools has spent more than five months adjusting to a new bus plan. Beginning last August, JCPS went from two to nine start times across the district, and consolidated bus routes to deal with driver shortages. And more than halfway through the school year, the district continues to struggle with late buses and a shortage of bus drivers. In early November, the district canceled more than 100 routes due to drivers calling out. 

Senate Bill 92 will "revitalize student transportation across Kentucky," the Legislative Research Commission said in a news release Monday.

Middle school and high school instruction previously started at 7:40 a.m., while elementary schools started at 9:05 a.m. The new plan adopted this year by Jefferson County Public Schools includes nine different start times ranging from 7:40 a.m. to as late as 10:40 a.m.

"Senate Bill 92 is an option that could be useful in assisting JCPS and other districts as we all continue to deal with a nationwide shortage of bus drivers," JCPS spokeswoman Carolyn Callahan said Monday.

In a letter sent to families in December, the district said the only transportation it can guarantee for the 2024-25 school year is for "special education students and students attending their resides school." JCPS said students have a "resides school" determined by which zone they live in, which can be found through the district's School Finder.

The Jefferson County Board of Education will vote on transportation options soon, the district said, but until a final decision "we cannot confirm the availability of transportation services for students attending magnet schools or schools outside of their zone." 

The district is looking at a slew of possible changes ahead of next school year, options ranging from cutting 15 to more than 100 buses by:

  • Eliminating all bus transportation for magnet and traditional schools, only transporting free and reduced lunch students to those schools
  • Creating a hub for magnet and traditional school students
  • Creating a lottery for available seats leftover on buses
  • Eliminate "grandfathering" for prior student assignment plan
  • Offering a parent stipend for high school student transportation

"I think that (SB 92) will dramatically help JCPS with some of the issues getting across the county, some routes that you only have a few kids on," Yates said Monday. "We've seen this already work with extracurricular activities."

Yates emphasized that this is not just an urban issue. Many rural districts in Kentucky are working around a driver shortage.

In Breckinridge County, their staff has dwindled from more than 50 drivers to 32 in the last four years. They have cut certain routes and consolidated others to require only 35 bus routes for this school year. That means people are filling in every day to drive at least three of them.

The list of bus substitute drivers includes the superintendent, Nick Carter.

"I drove daily for the entire fall semester," Carter said. "It's a team effort to make that happen, to get our kids here."

Carter said he is happy to hear Frankfort lawmakers are discussing the transportation issues. But as the state legislators discuss the next two-year budget, he's holding out hope for an increase in transportation funds, which he said can address a number of problems, including pay.

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