JCPS board members likely to end busing for magnet school students

Superintendent Marty Pollio will ask Jefferson County school board members to vote Tuesday in favor of a plan to end busing for 16,000 magnet students next year, and it appears the measure will pass.

Three board members told The Courier Journal they will vote yes, and a fourth indicated he would vote in favor of what the administration thought was best.

Only four members need to vote yes to approve the change.

"Certainly it is the aspiration for everyone at the table to provide transportation to everyone who needs it ... but we cannot continue to operate a system that is inoperable based on the number of bus drivers we have," said James Craig, who represents District 3.

Currently, students are arriving to school late every day due to delayed buses because the district doesn't have enough drivers to cover its routes. There are 569 routes throughout the county, and there are about 550 drivers, but about 50 call off work each day.

More:‘Central as we know it will be gone’: JCPS magnet schools fear future without busing

In some instances, students haven't made it to class until hours after the bell rings, and students are often stuck at school in the afternoon waiting for a bus to pick them up.

The district, Craig said, has to have a predictable system in place and "any vote that doesn't deliver that is a failure."

Sarah McIntosh, who represents District 7, also said she'd vote to end magnet transportation, indicating it would take away her child's bus too.

"Decisions like this are tough because you know you’re going to upset individual families, but we have to look at the big picture," McIntosh said.

This is the only option that will allow JCPS to provide "transportation to most students in an efficient way ... "None of the other options we’ve seen address those problems, and no one has brought any other options to the table that would resolve them," she continued.

Chris Kolb of District 2 will be a yes vote, he told The Courier Journal last week, because none of the other options are viable.

Joe Marshall, who represents District 4, said he will support the administration in what they think is best aligned with academic goals.

"The board is in the process of setting new academic goals that are aligned with the communities' vision and values. Whichever plan administration deems necessary to achieve those goals will have my full support," Marshall said.

Two schools in his district, Butler Traditional High and Schaffner Traditional Elementary, could lose a significant portion of their enrollment next year, given their high rates of bus riders who come from impoverished households — 57% and 44%, respectively.

According to a report by the Learning Policy Institute, "without free and accessible transportation, magnet schools may be realistic only for families with the resources and flexibility to provide their children with transportation."

More:Which JCPS magnet schools would be most impacted by ending busing?

Gail Strange of District 1 did not return calls or text messages asking for comment, and Linda Duncan of District 5 could not be reached.

Strange represents western Louisville, which has the three magnet schools with the highest concentration of economically disadvantaged bus riders — Whitney Young Elementary, 73%; Central High School, 72%; and Johnson Traditional Middle, 60%.

Board Chair Corrie Shull declined to comment on the proposed magnet busing changes.

"I’m not making comments about that to the media at this time," Shull told The Courier Journal Thursday.

The board meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Van Hoose Center, 3332 Newburg Road.

If the plan is approved, district leaders have said start times could be shifted, and if a significant number of magnet students choose to enroll in the school closer to their home, it could leave some buildings overcapacity. 

The district is working with TARC "to ensure there will be public transportation options for many of these students," said JCPS spokeswoman Carolyn Callahan, referring to magnet students.

Additionally, "We will also ensure that the transfer to their resides school is easy for those who can no longer attend a magnet school or program because of the bus driver shortage," she said.

Contact Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.