LOUISVILLE, Ky. — All Jefferson County Public Schools students are now back in the classroom after what was dubbed a “transportation disaster” on the first day of school.
Monday was the first time since Wednesday, Aug. 9 that all students were in their classrooms. According to JCPS, all buses were clear at 7:48 p.m. Monday night.
The district says that’s on par with last year. Following the all clear, JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio released a statement saying in part, “I’m proud of our staff, who hustled to make sure every child safely arrived at school and got to their bus stops home. While there were some hiccups, just as there are during the first week of school each year, I’m proud of the dedication of our JCPS team.”
During the unscheduled break, the district took some to practice bus routes, contract more drivers and buses, and create an app allowing staff to track the location of buses.
“That’s what we were aiming for, was to find out where the problem areas were, deploy more staff or provide more communication for parents, provide more support for bus drivers,” JCPS spokesperson Mark Hebert said. “And make sure we can get the kids to school and home in a reasonable period of time safely.”
Although the district is confident in their new temporary procedures, they still expect delays for some time to come.
JCPS says delays are common at the beginning of any school year.