LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Dozens of Jefferson County Public Schools bus drivers called out on Friday, some to protest a lack of support from the district and long bus routes.
JCPS Spokesperson Carolyn Callahan said a total of 92 drivers called out—the most in a single day for this school year.
While JCPS said they didn't need to cancel any routes Friday, delays were expected. Parents should expect to receive emails or texts from schools informing them of any delays.
Callahan said all students were dropped off by 7:18 p.m., with most students dropped off by 6:40 p.m. To put it in perspective, she said in the last three Fridays, students were dropped off by 7:05 p.m., 7:42 p.m. and 7:23 p.m.
David Clark waited 30 minutes at a bus stop with his daughter before he checked his phone and saw the delay alert. He had to tell the other children at the stop about the delay and walked one of them home.
"If I wouldn't have been there this morning, there would've been a kid sitting there who knows how long," he said. Emily Anderson, his fiancée, uses their only car for college during the week, so they rely on the bus even though their home is close to their daughter's school.
"Without the bus system being able to take Evelynn to classes, it's really hard to get her there," she said. They're both worried about children waiting several hours in the cold for their bus as winter nears.
One JCPS elementary school sent a message to parents this morning, saying these bus driver absences will affect bus routes and to find alternate transportation.
"As reported, a large number of bus driver absences have occurred today. This will impact AM/PM bus routes. Be prepared to make alternate arrangements," the message to parents said.
An elementary school principal said they believe the bus driver call-outs are a big issue. "I would expect significant delays this afternoon and huge increases in car riders," the principal said.
Many social media posts the past few days have said that bus drivers are calling out Friday and Monday due to long bus routes and lack of support from the district. Regardless, Callahan said school is in session Monday.
She also shared a new system the district is developing to address one major driver concern—student behavior. It's a digital referral process that brings complaints straight to school administrators.
"So we're cutting out that situation where it's all on the compound coordinator to get those handwritten referrals and figure out what to do," Callahan said. "Through this process, they'll be able to see if action was taken."
Clark, the worried parent who waited for the delayed bus this morning, blamed JCPS administration, not drivers.
"Issues in any organization start at the top and trickle down. I know there's always going to be excuses or potential fixes, but the way I see it, they're not doing everything they can until the Superintendent and the board members are driving the bus routes," Clark said.
For Melissa Ray, the mother of a JCPS seventh grader, Friday marked the second time this week she's had to drive her son to school.
"I don't blame the drivers, I blame JCPS," she said. "They knew it was a problem before school started. Here we are again."
Ray said her son was set to take a substitute bus to school Friday morning, but as she and her husband Don tracked it, they grew concerned.
Don Ray said he checked the JCPS Parent Portal app and noticed the bus was still sitting in the compound around the time his son was supposed to get picked up.
"So then I called the compound, and that's when I learned that the bus didn't have a driver, and [my son] would not have a bus," Ray said. "The first thought that came to me is 'How is this acceptable? How is my child supposed to be able to make it to school today?'"
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