Kentucky’s largest school district is hosting potential hires at the C.B. Young Service Center at 3001 Crittenden Drive from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday.
JCPS bus drivers wrote 1,016 behavior referrals through the first 24 days of the current school year, the first on a regular in-person learning schedule since 2019-20.
JCPS Chief Operations Officer Chris Perkins said the district hopes to have more help in the drivers’ seats soon, and he noted that the district has not had to cancel services because of the ongoing crunch.
Kentucky’s largest school district has all its 771 bus routes covered but is still looking for more drivers. John Stovall, president of Teamsters Local 783, says the district is short at least 100 drivers and confirmed that drivers on staff are dealing with crowded buses and students standing in aisles.
JCPS has about 200 teaching vacancies in classrooms throughout the district, primarily because of the recently expanded Pathfinder School of Innovation and newly created positions thanks to federal COVID-19 relief funding.
Buses, like schools, will need to implement COVID-19 mitigation measures as the third school year affected by the coronavirus pandemic begins Wednesday.