LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The issues facing drivers of Jefferson County Public School buses continue three months into what's been a tumultuous school year.
What started with the district canceling six days of class to figure out how to better implement its new busing plan has continued with student fights, driver shortages and multi-hour delays.
Bob Pendygraft, who drove a JCPS bus for about nine years before quitting in October due to student behavior and his own "well-being," said most drivers are over the age of 55.
"They're puppets," he said. "They have no say so on the bus whatsoever."
Pendygraft said he's a lot less stressed now that he left his driving job. He, along with many other, were fed up with the bad bus behavior and long routes this school year.
"My route is nine hours and four minutes, but it was more like 10.5 hours," he said. "I was driving 180 miles a day. My morning run was five hours."
Teamsters Local 783 President John Stovall, who represents JCPS bus drivers, gave Jefferson County School Board members a list of schools that drivers are concerned about.
The JCPS bus union gave a list to School Board members of schools that drivers say aren't supportive of them for reasons including student discipline.
"They go (to those schools) and expect the principals to help them," Stovall said. Some schools say, 'Hey man, I've had them since 7 o'clock. It's your turn. Get them out of here.'"
The list of schools, obtained through an open records request, is below:
- Crosby Middle School
- Eastern High School
- Highland Middle School
- Hudson Middle School
- Jefferson County Traditional Middle School
- Kennedy Elementary School
- Kerrick Elementary School
- Maupin Elementary School
- Moore Middle and High School
- Perry Elementary School
- Stuart Academy
- Thomas Jefferson Middle
- Westport Middle School
- Zachary Taylor Elementary School
JCPS didn't respond to a request for comment about the list. All requests to interview Superintendent Marty Pollio have also gone without response, though he announced last week he's recovering from back surgery.
A big change in the works deals with the referral process if a student misbehaves on a bus, which will move from a paper system — where the bus driver hands off a note to the compound coordinator who then sorts through those and sends them to school administration — to an online system, getting straight to the school in real-time.
The new referral system began Wednesday, but Pendygraft said he's skeptical.
"What is the administration going to do? he said. They haven't done nothing yet," he said. "These kids do what they want, they say what they want. My last day, they were throwing chocolate donuts around the bus, throwing them at each other, kids being hit in the head."
The drivers recently took a stand by calling out trying to raise awareness about the bad behavior, long routes and unsafe working conditions.
Pendygraft said drivers continue to ask the district for help, including for more bus monitors. He said parents need to be held accountable, too.Â
"They'll pull up and block a bus in so the bus can't move," he said. "We've asked for protection for the bus drivers, maybe putting a thing around us or something. No, they don't do that either."Â
Pendygraft said changes need to happen soon or more bus drivers will leave.
"These kids will tell you straight up: 'They're not going to do nothing to me. If they do, I'll just stay home for three days,'" he said. "Why not put it in the parents' hands? Take that kid off that bus for 20 days and say 'You know what, you gotta get them to school.'"
He said students who have received numerous referrals are still allowed to ride the bus.
"There's kids out there already with 15-20 referrals written against them," Pendygraft said.
While he misses the kids he used to transport, Pendygraft said he doesn't miss the stress of the job.
"They tell you on the bus: break up the fight but don't touch them," he said. "You can stand there and holler all day, but these kids, they don't want to listen.
"I would like to challenge them all (district leaders) to come and ride the bus. You know, come out and ride the bus, see what it's like. If you need the facts, get off your rear end and go out there and ride that bus."
Jefferson County Public Schools Bus
Related Stories:
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- 'Difficult decisions' | Dr. Pollio says transportation issues could continue 2 more years without changes
- JCPS to consider cutting bus routes to magnet, traditional schools as it continues working out transportation issues
- JCPS has fewer buses transporting the same number of students. Is that overcrowding safe?
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