LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Regardless of what avenue the Jefferson County Board of Education takes in its decision over bus transportation for next school year, tackling driver attrition remains one of primary focuses.
On Tuesday, ahead of a consequential vote, the school district was taking applications from people interested in joining its staff of bus drivers.
"That's one of the reasons why I wanted to try to help the change because they do have a big shortage. So, I think we can help one another," said Octavius Jackson, one of several people who showed up to a JCPS job fair Tuesday to apply to be a school bus driver.
Currently, according to Chief Operations Officer Dr. Rob Fulk, JCPS has 553 bus drivers and 569 bus routes.
In order to be successful, and to get students to and from school on time, Fulk says they need to have dozens more drivers than routes.
The driver shortage sits at the center of JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio's expected recommendation to end bus service for the majority of magnet and traditional school students, saying it's their only option to get ahead of the turnover rate and avoid kids missing substantial instruction time.
But on the other hand, there are concerns over the threat of thousands of kids most in need losing their rides to top-ranked schools across town. This comes as that nearly 250-page external audit, called for by the JCPS Board, calls cuts to magnet transportation 'inequitable.'
"It's going to be very difficult, and I worry for some of the kids," said JCPS bus driver Larry Farrish, Jr., who got national attention for going the extra mile to make sure one of his students had pajamas for pajama day at school.
Farrish told WHAS11 he'll be watching Tuesday night's school board meeting closely, acknowledging that a clear, perfect solution likely doesn't exist without more staff.
"On one end, you want to benefit bus drivers. On the other end, you want to benefit the community. And then in the middle, you want to benefit the kids -- it's mainly about the kids," he said.
The move would bring city-run TARC buses back into play for students. The public transit system has dealt with its own staffing shortages and delays in recent years.
"We are having those engaged discussions more so than anytime in the past," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said when asked at his weekly press briefing whether the city is ready for a potential influx of students on TARC buses. "We are trying to work through the implications of any decisions JCPS makes, and we will be ready."
In a statement Tuesday, a TARC spokesperson said, "We're looking forward to working with JCPS to make it as easy and seamless as possible to purchase and distribute passes so Jefferson County students can take advantage of TARC's existing service to get to where they need to go."
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