LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new school year brings new adjustments at Jefferson County Public Schools for the morning drop-off and afternoon pickup at schools in the district as they handle the influx of car riders.

“This is a busy school. I’m going to be a four-way intersection. I’m going to be the stoplight,” said James Wilkins, a traffic guard with the Louisville Metro Police Department.

He’s kept kids and families safe since 2018 as a traffic guard.

“New thing this year, you got more parents driving a kid to school due to the back of the buses. So you have more parents to have kids, school,” Wilkins said.

Wilkins is like an orchestra conductor, directing cars, buses and foot traffic.

“I’m a four-way intersection. I’ve got cars coming out of the church: John Paul and I got cars coming out of Seneca (High School) two lanes both ways. And I got turn lanes going in and out of the school. So I’m a four-way intersection for a couple hundred cars, and I clear it all out in roughly 30 minutes,” Wilkins said.

With week one of school wrapped up, JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio said last week that they are working to improve the pickup line.

“We are working to get some stuff out there. I mean, crossing guards are employees of LMPD, not of JCPS. And I know they have a real shortage of crossing guards, too. And so they’re struggling with and we’re working on some things to try to improve that and help them out with that. We can’t hire crossing guards, but we do have police officers. That’s probably a short-term fix, but we’re going to work to support those schools with short-term fixes,” Pollio said. 

That will be resolved soon, but Wilkins has one message.

“Drive safely. Slow down in the school zone because these babies belong to somebody,” Wilkins said.

Earlier this year, the JCPS School Board eliminated bussing for nearly all traditional and magnet high schools. This affected around 16,000 students.