LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jefferson County Public Schools have cancelled school for all students on Thursday and Friday following a disastrous first day of school due to unprecedented bus delays.
The school district says they hope to have students back in school "sometime next week" and will communicate additional information on that to families and staff by Monday evening.
According to JCPS Chief Communications Officer Carolyn Callahan, Tuesday will be a work day for all JCPS staff. According to a post made by JCPS, all extracurricular activities - including athletics - will continue as planned on Monday and Tuesday.
Many students waited over an hour for buses to arrive in the morning, and district officials said the last student was dropped off at their home just before 10 p.m.
Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio held a news conference on Friday afternoon where he again apologized to frustrated students, families and bus drivers.
"We should've anticipated those problems better than what we did and we did not do that and once again that's on me and my team," he said. "We are fixing those right now. If I could go back and do things differently, I definitely would have two or three weeks ago."
He said the school district is operating on 400 fewer routes than it did 8-10 years ago. Right now, there are roughly 550-575 routes and he said that has stretched them "very thin."
Pollio said officials will review all bus routes over the next four days, including the weekend, to make everything more efficient. Bus drivers will also be paid those days to continue practicing their new routes. Pollio said at the news conference that this was optional for the drivers to do.
"There are some changes that need to be done to the routing system," Pollio said, who says they'll be looking to reduce the load each driver must handle. "It's definitely not perfect."
He said they've had to add "thousands of additional routes," and are looking into GPS technology -- which might not happen for at least a couple of months. He confirmed JCPS has been meeting with UPS, who this week offered to help the school district get back on its feet.
Right now, drivers don't have GPS technology. Pollio said some have used printed-out directions of their routes.
"We're collaborating with them on some efficiencies on things like the GPS system, how they have tracking for their packages," he said.
When asked by WHAS11 News, Pollio noted that no bus drivers have quit since Wednesday. The superintendent stated that he will be meeting with bus drivers once a month to touch base with them about everything.
Some bus drivers have noted having to go across the county for just a small number of kids and within short periods of time, which is not feasible to get students to school on time.
According to Teamsters Local 783, which represents many JCPS bus drivers, they've warned the school district for months that the current system wasn't going to work. On Friday, one driver told WHAS11 News off camera that his route has gone from three schools to eight schools.
As far as young students being left stranded at stops after school, Pollio revealed JCPS will have other staffers assist busses in getting students home.
"They may be personnel without CDLs in a van or a smaller car," he said.
JCPS hired the consulting company AlphaRoute to streamline its busing system. The superintendent confirmed that JCPS paid the company at least $265,000 to do the work. He noted that implementation was the problem and not the AlphaRoute software.
He said one thing he wants to make clear is moving forward the school district isn’t considering using NTI after classes were canceled following the first day of school.
Pollio said school officials will be consulting with bus drivers to fix the issues, and that bus drivers have already told him that the addition of stops and not knowing their routes, kids not knowing their stops, having to circle back to depots, etc. are their issues.
In relation to school being canceled Monday and Tuesday, Pollio said he will ask the school board to forgive the days as 'snow days' so they don't have to be made up at the end of the school year.
"When we come back, it's going to be much more efficient, and our communication will be much better with families and schools," he said.
Pollio, admitting the toll the superintendent job has taken on him and his family, looked to be worn down from the last couple days -- even hinting at questions he's asked himself in recent years regarding his future in this role.
"This really takes a toll, and this is not just me, this is nationally. The amount of superintendents who have quit is immense, to the point where I am fearful for this community, and many of our communities, that there will not be many, if any, applications for these jobs moving forward," he said.
But ultimately, for parents right now, they want answers and results on how -- and when -- JCPS will fix this problem.
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