LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The last Jefferson County Public School student walked off the school bus at 7:43 p.m. on the district's second attempt at a school day this year.
According to a news release, this is "on par with the all-clear from the first day of school in 2022." There were 17 students still on school buses at 7:15 p.m.
“Our bus drivers and staff did a phenomenal job getting tens of thousands of students safely to and from school today,” Superintendent Marty Pollio said. “The short-term adjustments we put in place were successful and we continue to work on more substantial, long-term solutions. I’m pleased with the effort and look forward to welcoming our high school students back on Monday.”
In addition to adding an app to help JCPS employees find buses for parents, other short-term changes included:
- Contracting 20 more school buses and drivers from Miller Transportation
- Adding more employees to answer the 485-RIDE hotline
- Increasing staff at bus compounds
- Having additional vehicles available to transport kids who wound up on the wrong school bus
Several parents told WHAS11 the overall process -- particularly bus drop-offs -- was smoother compared to the first day back on Aug. 9.
Mother of two Semple Elementary students, Tiffany Majors, said she got consistent text updates throughout the afternoon and early evening on the whereabouts of her kids and their bus.
"They did pretty well communicating with us," she said.
Still, Majors' third and fifth graders didn't get back until before 7 p.m. Friday night. Semple Elementary School lets out at 4:20 p.m.
"If this is a short day with fewer kids, what are y'all going to Monday with high schoolers, middle schoolers and elementary?" Majors said.
While the final drop-off time was an improvement from last week, the delays were still there, which the school district warned about.
On average, of the several stops WHAS11 visited, buses were about 45 minutes behind ETA.
"It's still late, but it's earlier, so we're getting there," said Christina Hibbs, who waited at her daughter's bus stop for just under an hour. "We weren't even notified that she was going to be on a different bus."
Hibbs daughter, first grader Danielle, got home about an hour and a half after Fairdale Elementary School's dismissal, also at 4:20 p.m.
It's clear families expect a higher standard, one they hope will come with more repetitions.
As of Friday evening, there are still plenty of concerns.
"I think Monday, when they open it up to high schoolers, they're really going to have a problem," said Diana Wetterer, who drove to three separate bus stops Friday to greet three of her great-grandkids.
A JCPS spokesperson told WHAS11 that after dismissal, Conway Middle School had seven kids get on the wrong bus, but school officials were able to catch the error prior to them leaving and get them on the right ones.
We're told the extra attention to make sure each student was correctly tagged helped a great deal.
All JCPS students, including high schoolers, are expected to be back in class on Monday, Aug. 21.
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