Editorial: JCPS 'transportation disaster' was preventable. The community deserved better.
First day of school follies are a bit of a joke in Louisville. Parents expect school bus routes and bus stop waits to be a mess. Some even plan around it. Billy Forde told The Courier Journal that he never puts his kids on the bus the first week of school. He and his wife drop them off and pick them up until they're confident the district has worked out the kinks.
Some delays are to be expected. But this year is different.
All eyes were on Jefferson County Public Schools Wednesday morning as the district put into action some of the biggest changes the school district has seen in decades. About 68,000 students needed to arrive by bus to 165 schools with nine different start times. It was a time for precision. A time to kick off the new school year on the right foot with the confidence families needed to see to fully lean into the rest of the vision Superintendent Marty Pollio and the JCPS Board of Education had for this coming school year. But it wasn't.
The new transportation plan was a huge flop.
A “transportation disaster” is what Pollio called it in his video message to parents. That we can all agree on.
The disaster was no surprise, though. The whole community saw this coming. When JCPS opened an online form on July 24 for families unhappy with their bus stop, they received thousands of requests for changes. There is no way to resolve the issues the community raised in the three weeks they had between the release of the form and when school started.
JCPS should have postponed the start of the school year knowing the new busing system was not ready. Instead, students put in a 10-12 hour day and were offered granola bars or lunchtime leftovers while they waited instead of having dinner at home. Some elementary school students weren’t dropped off at their bus stops until past their bedtime.
The new busing plan was decided in March and the district has had all summer break to work on fine-tuning. Now, the community waits to see what JCPS thinks it can fix with additional time. Parents woke up Thursday morning to the news that JCPS had canceled school Thursday and Friday, telling families to “please enjoy the long weekend.”
Working parents were left scrambling with no options for childcare unless they had previously registered for the YMCA Child Enrichment Program. Not everyone can work from home, or take their child to the office.
The false start to the school year was preventable.
It was a disservice to the entire community. To the children, teachers and school staff who deserve a positive start to the new school year. To the bus drivers who deserve to be set up for success. To the parents who deserve to confidently send their children into JCPS care for the day. And a disservice to the good work so many in JCPS are trying to do with the worthy goal of equitable education for every child in Jefferson County Kentucky.
Have something to say about today's news? Submit a letter to the editor here
The Courier Journal Editorial Board. Bonnie Jean Feldkamp is the Opinion Editor and can be reached at BFeldkamp@Gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Parents deserve better than Louisville JCPS 'transportation disaster'
