'Dire mistake': Parents, teachers oppose ending busing for JCPS' magnet students

Parents, teachers, students and board members raised several questions regarding the potential end to busing for Jefferson County Public Schools magnet students next year during the board's Tuesday meeting.

In September board members were presented with options on how the district could change its transportation system - again - to address its flaws and get children home at a decent hour. During Tuesday's meeting, the district's transportation leaders said the only way to do that would be to eliminate busing for magnet and traditional school students.

This would not include magnet students at W.E.B. Dubois and Grace James academies – with these schools falling into a specialized category. It would include students in magnet programs within resides schools – such as the magnet at Atherton High.

This plan comes with the likely scenario that magnet schools - which outperform many of the district's resides schools - would no longer be accessible for low-income students, who are often Black. There also are a lot of unknowns when it comes to how such a change would impact the overall system.

The district transports about 16,000 magnet students, according to Chief Operations Officer Rob Fulk, and many of those students are passengers on the furthest routes JCPS buses make each day.

During the last school year, JCPS bused 72% of Manual's students, covering 376 square miles, or 99% of the county, twice each day. Male High ranked second for its county coverage at 94%, or 359 square miles. It is a taxing endeavor - one that many comparable districts do not undertake - but without it, the makeup of these schools could change drastically.

Frances Sowells, a JCPS parent, asked board members what would happen to the magnet schools (like Manual) where the majority of their students are bused and if those students are no longer able to attend. She pointed out that Manual, along with several other magnets that have a high ridership, are not home schools to any students.

"Who will attend these schools?," and what schools will have to absorb their former students, Sowells asked.

There is also the concern about the educational and emotional impacts such a change could have on current magnet students.

"What happens to their path to graduation?" Sowells asked. "... Is there counseling planned for students who will be ripped from their senior year in high school?"

Ellen Neihoff, a Central High Magnet teacher, compared JCPS’ magnet program to the message behind Tracy Chapman’s song "Fast Car."

For Central students – where 81% are considered economically disadvantaged and 74% are Black – it is “their ticket to anywhere,” Neihoff said.

“At Central, our students are truly getting somewhere,” she said. “If you take away busing to magnets, you take away this ticket."

Superintendent Marty Pollio said district leaders are working with TARC officials to get passes for middle and high school students and to add TARC stops at each of the magnet schools, but Neihoff said TARC is not a viable option.

Like JCPS, TARC is also dealing with a driver shortage. TARC also has received low levels of funding from the city government for years.

At the very minimum, Neihoff said, students who qualify for free and reduced lunch – meaning they are considered economically disadvantaged under federal definitions - should be provided transportation to magnets.

Sowells also offered a potential solution to the district’s busing woes, suggesting JCPS look at changes at the elementary magnet school level.

Transporting students from eastern Louisville to a downtown K-5 magnet equates to “a lot of resources being put into busing students at an elementary level who have not yet decided their career paths in life,” she said.

Approving the option in Fulk’s presentation would be “a dire, dire mistake,” she told board members. “We have students in middle school and high school who need to be considered who have already started their path to development in regards to what they are going to do with the rest of their lives.”

Board members asked several questions about alternatives, including contracting with TARC, using more cargo vans, changing start times again and partnering with Louisville Metro Government – with district leaders saying each is either not an option or is being discussed.

Still, Fulk, along with the district’s head of transportation, Marcus Dobbs, said eliminating magnet student transportation is the only option that would allow students to get to school and home on time next year.

Board members are expected to vote on how to move forward sometime next month, with meetings scheduled for March 5 and March 26.

Board Chair Corrie Shull, however, said, “If there are concerns around racial equity, that means we need to be more creative with our approach. I want to say openly and in a full-throated way, we don’t need to move forward with any option that has concerns around racial equity. That undermines our commitment as a district.”

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Parents, teachers oppose ending busing for JCPS' magnet students