JCPS official reassigned in wake of busing plan disaster

Eleanor McCrary and Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal
Updated ·2 min read
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JCPS students wait aboard a bus at the Nichols Bus Compound to transfer to another bus to take them to their schools on Monday, August 21, 2023

Chris Perkins is no longer the Jefferson County Public Schools chief operations officer.

Perkins has "accepted a reassignment," JCPS spokesperson Carolyn Callahan said.

Perkins was involved in the implementation of the new bus plan that went awry on the first day of school, causing hundreds of kids to be stranded at schools and classes to be canceled for days.

This year the district moved from just two start times to nine, which cut a significant number of bus routes, allowing the system to employ more bus drivers than it has routes for the first time in several years. Still, the plan proved flawed when put into action, and Superintendent Marty Pollio said that there were errors that should have been fixed before school started.

In the aftermath, board members requested the district hire an outside agency to conduct an investigation into what went wrong, and who is to blame.

During an August board meeting, District 6's Corrie Shull questioned the district's leadership when requesting an audit.

"It sounds as though people just didn't do their jobs and that is unacceptable," Shull said.

"It seems it is critical that at this time in history, it's important to have the right people on the bus and it seems to me that we do not have the right people," he continued.

Which agency will conduct that audit and when has not been announced.

Perkins became the district's COO in May 2020 after serving as the executive administrator of school support. He was previously the principal of Iroquois High and has been in the district since 1999.

It is unclear where Perkins has been reassigned. Callahan did not immediately respond to an email asking that question.

Aside from overseeing the district's transportation department, the COO's responsibilities include facilities and nutrition services.

More: JCPS focuses on magnet students to fix busing woes. Here are the options

JCPS has appointed Rob Fulk as the interim COO.

"I’m honored to have this opportunity to lead the JCPS Operations division. The role of this division is clear: support our schools,” Fulk said in a release. “We build, maintain, and modernize our schools while also maintaining safe environments for our students. We are the wheels that keep our district moving forward, and I’m excited about the opportunity to support our schools in this new way.”

Fulk joined JCPS in 2016, serving most recently as the assistant superintendent of middle schools.

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or on Twitter at @ellie_mccrary.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: JCPS reassigns COO Chris Perkins in wake of busing plan fiasco