LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jefferson County Public Schools will not have classes Thursday or Friday due to hectic transportation issues on the first day of classes Wednesday, administrators announced early Thursday morning.

This year, students in the district have staggered start times and new bus routes, with many seeing their day start one hour later and some not making it back home until well after 6 p.m. 

The last student was dropped off at 9:58 p.m., JCPS said in an email.

"We will use these next four days to work through the issues experienced yesterday and make fixes to ensure the safety and well-being of our students and staff," JCPS communications officer Carolyn Callahan said.

Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Marty Pollio called it a “transportation disaster” in a video posted on social media Thursday morning. Pollio apologized to the district's 96,000 students along with their families, the bus drivers, and the school officials who had to stay with students for hours as they waited on buses to arrive Wednesday.

"I have to make sure our kids are safe, and we will not have a repeat of what happened. We will not be in school until I know we can get kids home safely," Pollio said.

All bus routes and bus stops will be extensively reviewed with efficiency in mind, Pollio said. Bus drivers will also get paid time this weekend to practice their new routes.

In a statement from the Jefferson County Board of Education Chair Diane Porter, the board said the transportation issues were unacceptable. “The problems placed undue stress on our families who simply wanted to get their children to and from school in a relatively timely fashion,” Porter said.

The board said they supported Pollio in correcting the situation, but they would also ask for a full account of what happened with the delays.

The disaster came after major changes to school bus routes and school start times this year meant to alleviate a bus driver shortage, the Courier Journal reported. The district spent $199,000 to hire the AlphaRoute engineering firm to create a plan that would cut the number of bus routes and stops.

In pushing for the changes, Pollio said the district simply could not keep up with its current routes because of the driver shortage. Even after increasing pay and cutting routes, the district did not have enough drivers, and students continued to get to school late and leave school late all year long, he said.

The district opened an online comment form for the new bus routes on July 24 and received thousands of complaints from parents concerned that their children were having to walk too far to catch the bus or that bus stops were at at busy, unsafe intersections. District spokesperson Mark Hebert told the paper last week that they were continuing to review the parent requests for changes.

Teamsters Local Union 783, which represents JCPS bus drivers, issued a statement on Facebook, defending the drivers. 

"We are very proud of our Members who went above and beyond to make sure every child was delivered home safely, even though the delivery times and conditions are 100% unacceptable. They put in many hours yesterday for the children's sake, not because this was well planned and rolled out flawlessly," the union said. 

The teamsters went on to say their drivers were not a part of planning the routes. They said if drivers had been involved and the routes properly vetted, the problem could have been avoided. 

To address transportation issues, JCPS announced Thursday afternoon they had increased staffing for their Bus Hotlines to assist with any questions. The hotline can be reached at 502-485-7433 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday or Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.