LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jefferson County Public Schools is set to begin classes Thursday, Aug. 8. The district said last year's first day was “difficult,” citing its transportation disaster.

What You Need To Know

  • Jefferson County Public Schools has 560 drivers for the first day of school Thursday, Aug. 8 

  • This is the first time since the pandemic there are more drivers than routes

  • The district is hiring an additional 70 drivers from the Transit Authority of River City

  • JCPS is encouraging families to use Bus Teller on the JCPS First Day website to check the time and location of their bus stop

District officials spoke Monday, Aug. 5, addressing what transportation changes are coming this year.

This year’s transportation plan has been nine months in the making. A team of seven people from the district designed this year's routes, unlike last year when an outside entity created them.

“Our two primary routers are folks that were bus compound coordinators for over 20 years that understand the streets of the city, understand the populations of our schools, understand our attendance zones and such," said Rob Fulk, JCPS chief operations officer. "Our (geographic information system) coordinators are also folks that are here from Louisville." 

There are 560 drivers and 510 routes. This is the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic drivers outnumber the routes, but with an average of 50 drivers calling out daily, the number of drivers and routes will be close.

“Right now, as of the first day of school, we will have more bus drivers than routes, and that is what is needed to have efficiency,” said Marty Pollio, JCPS superintendent.

The district is hiring an additional 70 drivers from the Transit Authority of River City. While 56 of those are not yet qualified to drive a school bus, Pollio said when they get those drivers, they can restore transportation for some students.

“We are hoping that as we get those 70 bus drivers in, that we will be able to add back some of the transportation to some of our magnet students, our neediest magnet students," Pollio said. "We’ll be presenting that at the August 20th board meeting."

A Louisville lawyer filed an injunction that could prevent the district from implementing its new transportation plan this week after two parents filed a lawsuit June 20 against the district for cutting routes. Pollio said the district is preparing for this possibility. 

“I mean, a lot of this would be the legal part that comes out of this," he said. "I can't say what that is; that's not my expertise. I’m not going to get into specifics of what we're doing, but I am very confident that we'll be successful in that in that ruling." 

The superintendent said he's expecting the last student to get dropped off around 7:30 p.m. on the first day of school.  He added the time will improve as they get more efficient during the first few weeks. 

The district is encouraging families to use Bus Teller on the JCPS First Day website to check the time and location of their bus stop.

Families with questions can call the 4-8-5-RIDE hotline for more information. 

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