LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bus drivers with Jefferson County Public Schools appear to be getting some help with managing students misbehaving on the bus. District officials released a new bus referral system to help track and potentially discipline students.

 What You Need To Know

  • District officials released a new bus referral system to help track and potentially discipline students

  • All compounds will have a climate and culture staff member to receive referrals in person from drivers

  • This follows nearly a hundred bus drivers took part in a “sick out” resulting in JCPS canceling bus routes earlier this month

  • Teamsters Local 783, who represents JCPS bus drivers, said “it is a step in the right direction”

JCPS said every bus compound will receive daily help from a climate and culture staff member.

“We thought the best solution was to just put somebody in front of them they can talk to that they can physically hand that referral to so that we can get that to our administrators as quickly as possible to ensure that any safety issue or behavior issue is addressed in a timely fashion,” said Matt Anderson, Assistant superintendent of Culture and Climate, JCPS. 

According to JCPS, the climate and culture staff members will receive referrals directly from bus drivers.

Then they will enter it in to infinite campus for administrators to see. They will also update compound coordinators weekly about behaviors and resolutions. Last, they will answer bus driver questions.

“The bus driver does have concerns like, ‘Hey, I haven’t heard that.’ They can go straight to that person, say, ‘Hey, what’s going on with so-and-so? How is that being addressed?’ This person can follow up with the administrator and make sure that we are closing up that loop,” said Anderson. 

Anderson said his team is the right fit for the job.

“They’re former administrators, they’re in the schools and so it just made sense for this person to be there as a person that understands kind of how things works and has connections in the schools since this person will be in the compounds as well,” he said. 

This comes after nearly a hundred bus drivers participated in a “sick out” resulting in JCPS canceling bus routes earlier this month. Anderson said, he wants drivers to know that his team is there to help.

“We just want them to feel supported and, you know, we want to make sure that they’re getting accurate information and we’re communicating with them and that’s one of the things that we’re here for, is we really do want them to feel, hey, we’re taking some resources, we’re shifting them because we understand the need,” he said.

Anderson said they weighed a couple solutions including an online system. He said this was the best option right now because it would not require more work for drivers. 

We reached out to Teamsters Local 783—who represents JCPS bus drivers. Their president said this is a good start. 

“It is a step in the right direction after years of pushing student discipline to the school board. I would certainly hope they’re sincere in their efforts to control student discipline in both the school bus and classrooms if not they will continue to have a hard time recruiting and keeping people employed,” said John Stovall, president of Teamsters 783.

Related Stories