‘I’m terrified to put this kid on the bus’: JCPS parents worried after first-day chaos [Kentucky school buses brought students home six hours late]

The Courier Journal via Yahoo ^ | August 11, 2023 | Kate Marijolovic, and Leah Hunter,

[grundle]

More than 100 parents contacted the Courier Journal to report problems with their child's transportation. Parents said they were particularly upset by the district's lack of communication about when their children would arrive home from school.

The last bus riders weren't dropped off until 9:58 p.m.

Smallwood said the bus her children rode didn’t have air conditioning, and since kids weren’t allowed to have food or drink on the bus, her autistic daughter, who has low blood sugar and must eat every two hours, was told she couldn’t eat because there were “no exceptions.”

Smallwood said her family also couldn’t find her 7-year-old nephew Wednesday night. No one from his school or the bus depot hotline answered their calls, so the family drove around town trying to find him, she said, adding that the second grader didn't get home from school until 8:47 p.m. He was supposed to arrive at 3:14 p.m.

[grundle]

In Kentucky, school buses brought children home six hours late. Children who needed to eat for medial reasons were prohibited from doing so. If people want to see a place where children are truly in danger, this is the place to look. What the heck is wrong with these idiots?

[mewzilla]

Publik skrewls are state sanctioned child abuse.

Parents need to band together, pool their brains and money, and find a while to homeschool their kids.

[CheshireTheCat]

Aren’t there enough bus drivers to go around?

Or did they go to the same place where all the airline pilots and aircraft mechanics have gone?

[mewzilla]

They’re evil.

Nuff said.

Now what about the parents who continue to entrust their kids to people who abuse them...?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“What the heck is wrong with these idiots?”

Indeed. School bus routes are fixed and there’s no reason for such a delay unless the police closed the road or the bus broke down. No communication to the parents? That’s insane! What sort of school bus company is this? I hope they properly qualify their drivers.

[Mears]

Baloney…….there are some excellent public schools in this country .

…

[SaveFerris]

(The last bus riders weren’t dropped off until 9:58 p.m.)

Hey, it was on the same day of the week at least!

C’mon man!!

[txlurker]

They have had to cancel school until they figure it out! Superintendent makes big bucks!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“It’s not right that our children are being punished over something that JCPS has done.”

What in the world does that mean?

[hardspunned]

The obvious reason to be terrified of putting a kid on an American school bus is the fear the bus actually gets to school and your child’s mind is further turned to mush.

[where's_the_Outrage?]

No explanation provided on why the delays happened.

Another reason not to use public schools.

[Leaning Right]

In my neck of the woods there is a severe bus driver shortage. Part of that is due to the pay. Most of it is due to the lack of discipline on the buses. A few kids scream, throw things, bully other kids, start fights, etc. And nothing is ever done to them.

Who the heck would want to drive a bus under those conditions?

So this fall, there will be all the problems described in the article.

[mewzilla]

Name one.

[newzjunkey]

Jefferson County Public Schools

[txlurker]

JCPS cut over 200 bus routes.

[newzjunkey]

Even a bus breakdown shouldn’t cause a six hour delay getting students home.

[SaveFerris]

(Who the heck would want to drive a bus under those conditions?)

PLUS there’s all the pronouns ya would have to learn...

[Still Thinking]

Even if the bus did break down, get cops/city employees/district employees to get the kids to a safe location with AC ASAP in POVs if necessary, and notify all involved parents if the kids are going to be more than 20 minutes late or so. 10pm is unconscionable. And for God’s sake let them eat, make sure they have water, etc.

Somebody needs to go to jail.

[Bratch]

JCPS hopes to return students to school by the 'middle of next week' as it works to fix 'transportation disaster'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jefferson County Public Schools is planning to return students to class sometime in the middle of next week as it works to mitigate the issues that led to some students spending hours on a bus, getting home as late as 10 p.m. on the first day of the year.

Superintendent Marty Pollio said in a news conference Friday that the district will have an updated timeline for parents on Saturday "by the absolute latest."

"I believe, looking at it and the things that we need to implement with our bus drivers, it could be the middle of next week," he said. "That's what we are shooting for right now. We will have a final decision on that in the next 24 hours ..."

In a recorded video message early Thursday morning, Pollio called the Wednesday a "transportation disaster" Wednesday amid new bus routes and school start times. At 5:13 a.m. Thursday, JCPS parents got a text alert that said school would be canceled on Thursday, Aug. 10, and Friday, Aug. 11, an effort by the district to fix the issues.

Pollio said he believes the district will have "solutions in place" when students return to school. 

"When we come back ... it's going to be much more efficient, and our communication will be much better with families and schools," he said.

Pollio said the issues were multi-faceted and complex, from the implementation of a new student assignment plan, brand new bus routes for a fleet of drivers already stretched thin and a new schedule of bus stops leaving kids unsure on where they need to be.

"The first day of school is extremely important," Pollio said Friday. "It's just shame it has to be overshadowed by the transportation problem that happened after school."

JCPS recently started using a program developed by a firm called AlphaRoute out of Massachusetts to help with planning routes and assigning bus stop locations. The program — developed by graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — uses artificial intelligence to generate the routes with the intent of reducing the number of routes. JCPS had 730 routes last year, and that was cut to 600 beginning this year.

Jefferson County school board member Linda Duncan said she believes the district spent $265,000 for the AlphaRoute system. Pollio said representatives from AlphaRoute will be in town over the weekend to help JCPS work in implementing its plan.

Pollio called the new bus plan as well as all the new start times an "unprecedented" amount of change to start the year, reiterating that not as an excuse but to emphasize the hurdles the first day brought.

"We should have anticipated those problems better than we did," he said. "... Once again, I'll say that's on me and my team."

Currently, he said bus drivers get directions for their routes — many of which were brand new Wednesday — on pieces of paper telling them where to turn. Pollio said they're looking into getting GPS for drivers, though that's not a solution they can realistically implement soon.

John Stovall, president of the union that represents bus drivers for JCPS said he believes classes should be canceled through next week to help sort out the logistics. Stovall said he's heard frustration and anger from his drivers that were out as late as 10 p.m. Wednesday. He said the drivers had no input on the new routes, fearing they wouldn't make it in time.

"They're going from one end of town all the way to the other end of town all for one student," he said. "... This is not going to work. They feel like they've been set up for failure.

UPS offered its expertise in transportation and logistics Thursday morning to help JCPS sort out busing delays, UPS spokesman Jim Mayer said.

"We have had a conversation about whether it would be useful for us to offer help," Mayer told WDRB News.

Neither the company nor the school district was able to say whether any collaboration will materialize.

"We appreciate the strong community partnership we have with UPS and we are setting up a meeting with them," JCPS spokeswoman Carolyn Callahan said in an email.