Are JCPS bus drivers quitting in droves and are kids late to school? What the numbers say

Busing has defined Jefferson County Public Schools this year.

The start of the year was marred by stranded students who didn't get home for hours on the first day, prompting the district to cancel classes for several days while it worked out its new busing system. Then, in the latest drama, the district had to cancel nearly 100 routes on Nov. 6 after bus drivers organized a sickout over student behavior and discipline.

But where do things stand now with the system? This is what we know.

How many JCPS bus drivers have quit?

Quickly after the district's new busing system proved flawed on the first day − forcing drivers to work hours longer than expected − rumors began to spread that drivers were quitting in droves.

But that has not been the case. At the end of October, 18 drivers had resigned this school year, according to the district's response to a records request.

Those losses are on top of the 100 open positions that the district started the year with, though.

How are JCPS students misbehaving? Here's a list of bus referrals

Does JCPS still have more bus drivers than routes?

A major upside to the new transportation system was that for the first time in several years, the district would have more drivers than bus routes.

In 2015, the district had 1,080 drivers with 975 routes and in the years since, the district has worked to consolidate routes without decreasing its ridership. Last school year, though, busing operated with nearly 100 less than drivers than there were routes.

More: JCPS drivers are complaining about student behavior. Here's what the kids are doing

Despite resignations and open positions, JCPS still has more drivers than routes, but barely.

On Nov. 13, there were 575 drivers, only seven more drivers than the number of routes that need to be covered, spokesman Mark Hebert said. This is a concern given that about 40 drivers call in each day.

Are bus riders still getting to school late?

When selling the new system, Pollio repeatedly noted how often kids were missing class because of bus delays. The shortage of drivers last year meant some of them had to cover multiple routes. And with only two start times, that meant some kids arrived significantly late to school.

In a February presentation, Pollio said a combined 3 million minutes of missed instruction time had occurred since the start of the 2022-23 year, impacting 20,000 students.

The total number of missed minutes in the 2023-24 year hasn't been presented, but the new system still has kids arriving late.

In the first 21 days of the school year, students on average missed 13.5 minutes per day of instruction due to bus delays.

“I think that's a significant improvement over last year,” Pollio told the board when presenting that data during a September meeting.

That is 10 minutes more than the same time period last year, though, according to data provided by the district about a month after that meeting. During the first 21 days of the 2022-23 school year, the average rate of instructional time lost due to busing was 3.5 minutes, which increased to 4.3 minutes per day by the end of the year.

These missed minutes are in addition to the six days elementary students and seven days older students missed when classes were canceled at the beginning of the year due to issues with the new busing system.

When drivers organized their sickout on Nov. 6, that likely caused thousands of students to miss school, too. There were 13,000 additional absences that day compared to a week prior.

Are students still staying at school late because of bus delays?

Yes, but we don't know for how long.

Pollio said in September there was an average of 42 afternoon buses late during the first 21 days of the year, but the district said it could not provide data regarding how long students have been stuck at school this year or last year due to bus delays.

Last school year, parents and teachers told The Courier Journal that afternoon bus delays were a consistent issue.

One parent needed to start picking up their kindergartner so she’d be home in time for family dinner before heading to an older sibling’s sports practice. Another parent noted her son's bus regularly didn't leave the school until after 3 p.m., despite a 2:20 dismissal.

Jesse Judd, a teacher at Stuart Middle, said the afternoon bus delays led to more discipline issues among students who were forced to sit idly inside the school's gym long after the day ended.

"They'll have four to five administrators who don't want to be there, sitting in a gym with 400 to 500 kids," Judd said. "It could be 30 minutes one day or it could be two hours."

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: JCPS bus driver resignations, missed class time: What we know