LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Four families and the commonwealth's largest school district have agreed to suspend court proceedings for now after a civil rights lawsuit was filed over this school year's transportation plan. 

The motion said the families and Jefferson County Public Schools have agreed to pause proceedings for 60 days. It added after an Aug. 2 hearing, the families suing the district may recognize the relief they have requested could happen as the district's transportation plan is implemented, and resuming magnet transportation will be a priority if there is an adequate number of bus drivers. 

JCPS said in a release there is no settlement of the pending lawsuit and no plans to change the district's transportation plan. This comes after the families' attorney Ted Gordon's team said the children of the parents who filed suit against JCPS will be placed in their magnet or traditional schools as requested and transportation will be provided within 60 days.

"We have stated publicly for some time, and well before the current lawsuit was filed, that if JCPS can hire or lease a sufficient number of additional drivers in the coming months, then the district might be able to restore transportation to some magnet and traditional students," JCPS said. "District representatives repeated those statements in Court last Friday in connection with the lawsuit that was filed, which sought an injunction to prohibit implementation of the April 10 transportation plan and a return to last year's transportation plan, a change that would take months to implement. The lawsuit is baseless." 

Gordon said he is working with the parents and other groups to provide transportation until JCPS resumes bus service to magnet schools.

Two Louisville parents, Mary Bledsaw and Taryn Bell, sued Jefferson County Public Schools, the Jefferson County Board of Education and JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio June 20, 2024, for their decision to end bus service to most traditional and magnet schools. It said their children, one of which has special needs, planned to attend Male High, Central High School and Whitney Elementary but will need to attend their home schools due to the decision. 

The suit alleges the actions of JCPS "created disproportionate and disparate treatment" of the children of Bledsaw and Bell and similarly situated African American students who cannot afford private transportation, adding Uber, taxi and other ride share programs would be monetarily prohibitive for the plaintiffs and those in a similar position. Limiting access to magnet and traditional schools, the suit said, is unconstitutional and violative of rights guaranteed under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  

After a botched rollout of a new transportation plan at the beginning of last school year and a continued struggle to recruit new drivers, the Jefferson County Board of Education voted 4-3 April 10, 2024, to cut bus transportation to traditional and magnet schools except Western and Central high schools.