LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Transportation issues at Jefferson County Public Schools could be shining a light on bigger racial equity problems in the city of Louisville, according to the Louisville Urban League. 

What You Need To Know

  • Jefferson County Public Schools have cancelled classes for over a week due to transportation challenges

  • Louisville Urban League's interim president says JCPS transportation issue is rooted in broader challenges

  • The non-profit has removed nearly 3,000 barriers for people in transportation, bills, food and health care

JCPS students have been out of the classroom for a week because of busing issues. On the first day of school, some students didn’t get home until nearly 10 p.m. 

Parents and students flocked to a school board meeting this week to voice their concerns, and so did the interim president of the Louisville Urban League, Lyndon Pryor.

“Nothing happens in a vacuum, nothing happens by itself. What has been shown and discussed today echoes that. JCPS has a transportation issue, because Louisville has a transportation issue, because Louisville has an economic depravity issue, because Louisville has an infrastructure issue, because Louisville has a segregation issue,” Pryor said on Tuesday at the board meeting. 

Pryor says that the transportation system is affecting people beyond JCPS. 

“And unfortunately, the history of this nation is we put the majority of these issues on the school district, on our administrators, on our teachers, on our principles,” he said.

In a follow up interview with Pryor after the board meeting, he shared more about what he sees as a broader issue in the community. He says delivery services in some neighborhoods are short of drivers. 

“But we have to recognize that this is also about economy and this is about jobs. This is about companies being willing to pay good wages for folks to come in and be drivers for things like the bus system,” he shared.

Pryor believes investing more in public transportation is the solution.  

“I think that the city certainly can go back to looking at mass transit and opportunities for mass transit here. And just because that is not only an economically viable option for lots of people, but it’s also an environment friendly option,” he explained.

In the Louisville Urban League’s recent “Impact Report”, it says the nonprofit has removed nearly 3,000 barriers for people in transportation, bills, food and health care.

The city has acknowledged segregation and on its website says “conventional redlining still exists” in Louisville. 

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