LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Starting next school year, many students at Jefferson County Public Schools will have new start times.

In a Board of Education meeting Tuesday, members voted 6-1 to approve the proposed times.

What You Need To Know

  • Starting next school year, Jefferson County Public Schools will have new start times

  • Members approved the school start times in a 6-1 vote

  • Many say the ongoing bus driver shortage led to the need for changing start times

  • Next school year, JCPS schools will have nine different start times

Spending more than an hour in discussion, several board members addressed concerns with the start times, focusing on safety as a priority with early morning start times.

Many principals from JCPS schools also addressed board members advocating for the change, citing the ongoing bus driver shortage.

“We have a school bus that runs consistently between 30 to 75 minutes late every day, which means that many students on that bus will miss instructional time on weeks when a driver is out,” said Tonya Arnold, Principal at Fern Creek Elementary. “It happens often whether they be sick or take personal days. Other buses may be late due to picking up second and third runs.”

Superintendent Marty Pollio said start times haven’t changed in 50 years.

The new start times aim to resolve the recent bus driver shortage, which is causing late arrivals for many students.

“We have kids missing hours of instruction every single day. You will see we have 21,000 kids miss 3.5 million minutes of instruction this year. That has to change,” Pollio said. “Secondly, we know we have to improve our attendance issues in this district. 

Starting next school year, JCPS schools will have nine different start times. 

The earliest start is still 7:40 a.m., with four schools starting at 10:40 a.m. The school day would end anywhere between 2:30 p.m. to as late as 5:20 p.m. for a few schools. 

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