LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) leaders are prepared to vote on a new student transportation plan in their next Board meeting on March 26, in light of a continued bus driver shortage and persistent missed instructional time.
On Tuesday, in front of a JCPS advisory committee, the district’s Chief Operations Officer Dr. Rob Fulk presented four main options for the 2024-25 school year, including one that would slash bus routes for thousands of magnet and traditional school students.
“It’s the only option we’ve investigated that puts us on the right side of routes and drivers. That means we’re on time -- as close to on time as we can be – given the traffic and other factors,” Fulk said.
Option 1, as the district calls it, would only provide bus service for students attending their resides schools, cutting transportation for more than 13,000 magnet and traditional school students, including at Manual and Male, who travel out of their resides zones.
Fulk says this will reduce bus routes by nearly 100, giving drivers more wiggle room to get to and from school in a more timely fashion.
JCPS’ goal for next year is a 6 p.m. average clear time (when all students are dropped off and buses are returned), compared to 7 p.m. right now.
“We will not say anything is going to be perfect, but that would be a significant improvement over our current state,” he said.
Option 2 would create hubs for bus pickup and drop-off.
The third option would keep things as is, which appears to be all but off the table, as Fulk said it would set JCPS back even more.
He shared a glimpse into what he says would be the reality if the system were kept status quo.
“The challenge is we would expect that our clear times would be in excess of 7:30, given the attrition that we expect to see following our trend data. We’re going to arrive late and we’re going to leave late every day. And the current system will be significantly slower with less projected drivers,” Fulk told the committee.
A new fourth option heard for the first time Tuesday would maintain bus service to magnet and traditional schools, but only to those that meet a 70 percent threshold of economically disadvantaged students.
In theory, this would ensure transportation for kids most in need, but Fulk said this move alone likely wouldn’t reduce routes enough to accommodate to the driver shortage – meaning delays wouldn’t improve significantly.
As of March 19, JCPS officials say it sits at 569 bus routes but with only 553 drivers – with 52 of them absent each day. Fulk projects they’ll be at 526 drivers next school year.
The district’s goal is 474 routes or fewer, and option 1 would get them there, but Fulk admitted there’s no guarantee how long that’d be effective if drivers keep leaving at a higher rate than they’re being hired.
“That honestly is, in my position, what keeps me up at night. What does it look like in two years from now? And then what adjustments can we make? If we hit, let’s say, 400 drivers. If we [lose] 150 more, the question would really revolve around what reside group do we need to change the service delivery model for?” Fulk said.
The JCPS Board of Education will vote on 2024-25 transportation plan on Tuesday, March 26.
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