JCPS paid nearly $20 million to settle bus crash lawsuits since 2024 as its insurance rates rise

Closed-door votes, millions in taxpayer dollars and records JCPS resisted releasing reveal the district has paid nearly $20 million to settle lawsuits since 2024 — with almost all of that tied to school buses.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Every school day, yellow buses carry around 50,000 Jefferson County Public Schools students across town. Transportation is already one of the district's most expensive operations, with budget documents showing busing costs topped $120 million this school year, including drivers, monitors, maintenance and contracts.

But the records show another cost, one approved in closed session by the school board.

After weeks of open records requests and back-and-forth emails, JCPS released documents showing more than 50 settlements approved by the board since 2024. And about $18 million of the nearly $20 million total stems from bus-related incidents.

One of those cases involved a 2023 crash in which a JCPS bus driver T-boned Kimberly Petty after running a red light, according to court records.

"She broke her neck, she broke her back (and) she broke her shoulder," said Petty's attorney, Bo Bolus. "... metal all up and down her body, holding her bones together."

The case settled for $5 million. Court records show the driver had a felony drug conviction and wasn't drug-tested after the crash, both violations of district policy.

Another major settlement involved a 2023 crash outside Luhr Elementary School. An 8-year-old was hit in the crosswalk, and, a few years later, JCPS paid nearly $5.1 million.

The district also paid millions for a 2021 crash that killed the driver of a car and injured more than a dozen students on a bus. The district paid more than $2 million across 10 lawsuits.

"For the most part, not serious," Renee Murphy, a district spokesperson at the time of the crash, said regarding the students' injuries.

Bolus, who said he has sued JCPS for three decades, blamed systemic pressures rather than individual drivers.

"These bus drivers are overworked and don't have enough time to get from Point A to Point B," Bolus said. "It's gotten worse."

Taylor Everett, who serves on the Jefferson County Board of Education, said the board typically learns settlement details only after attorneys reach an agreement.

"If he has an idea of how to get more bus drivers, I'd love to hear it," Everett said.

He also said the board almost always settles once a case reaches that stage.

"The cost to go to court is going to be 3-5 times whatever that number is if you lose," Everett said.

The district did take a case to trial involving a girl with special needs who was dragged by a JCPS bus for more than a minute in 2015. The case settled before going to the jury for $5 million.

Insurance covers most payouts, but taxpayers still face rising costs. Pupil transportation insurance more than doubled — from $4.4 million in 2023 to $10.6 million in the 2026 budget.

"Every single high-dollar claim goes into their consideration of what our rates will be," Everett said.

A district spokesperson said the increase follows a national trend.

JCPS initially resisted releasing the settlement records, saying it didn't track them in one place, that producing them would be burdensome and that they were protected by attorney-client privilege. The district ultimately complied with open records laws and released the documents.

"I think it's embarrassing to them," Bolus said.

After WDRB uncovered confidential settlements in 2018, board member Linda Duncan said the district "should be more transparent." Asked whether anything has changed, she wrote "not that I am aware of" and said the board isn't shown yearly settlement totals unless it specifically asks.

Superintendent Brian Yearwood said he couldn't comment on earlier cases.

"I wasn't here back then so I can't comment on that," he said. "But I know, going forward, that I see improvements ahead."

The records show nearly $20 million paid since 2024 — a hidden cost of busing approved behind closed doors and ultimately covered by taxpayers.

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