LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The first day of school for Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) students is Aug. 8, and parents are planning their child's transportation now that there's been some changes compared to last school year.
"I don't want her on the bus for an hour and a half," JCPS parent Nikkie Harvey said. "That seems crazy."
Harvey is a mother of two –- her daughter is going into first grade, and her son is in preschool. Her daughter will only take the bus home.
"Our neighborhood bus pick up would be at 5:49 a.m., and I'm not putting my 6-year-old on the bus before 6:00 in the morning," Harvey said.
Harvey added that her family is able to plan for car drop-offs in the mornings, but the early bus pick up time is inconvenient.
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"I'm a little disappointed that the bus comes so early, because I have to drop my son off in the same area an hour and a half later," she said.
Ivy Sowell said her son is going to a magnet school. Most magnet and traditional schools lost transportation for this school year under JCPS' new transportation plan.
"It's not an issue for us, but I understand it's an issue for a lot of other people and I wish there was a solution for those that do have trouble," Sowell said.
But parents showed excitement for the new school year.
"I am excited for him," Sowell said. "He's going to be going to a new school this year, so we're excited."
"We're excited to know where she's going this year, and not have to worry and wonder what school she's going into," Harvey said.
JCPS is also preparing for the new school year by assisting parents with transportation questions through their hotline number that opened for calls last week.
"We're getting a lot of calls now that buses have been assigned," said Rachel Droze of JCPS. "People here are actually taking those calls, encouraging families to pull their computers out and get on Bus Teller with them."
Bus Teller is a new app that rolled out this year to give parents the ability to track their children's school bus.
Droze said agents have fielded about 4,000 calls from parents and guardians since July 22.
The hotline 485-RIDE will be open for calls two weeks past that start of school for parents to ask transportation questions or make requests.
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