JCPS Cuts Transportation To Many Magnet And Traditional Schools In Board Vote

Kentucky’s largest school district voted after heated debate on Wednesday, April 10, to end busing for students at all most magnet and traditional schools. Jefferson County Public Schools says the move is to reduce routes for its bus drivers.

There are two schools that will not be affected by the vote: Central and Western high schools. 75% of all students at both high schools are on free or reduced lunch going into the 2024-2025 school year.

District 2 board member Chris Kolb made the motion to vote for this option, cutting transportation for over 14,000 students across JCPS.

The Louisville-based school district board voted along racial lines four to three, with board members Kolb, James Craig, Linda Duncan and Sarah McIntosh in favor, and Joe Marshall, Corrie Shull and Gail Logan Strange against, to end busing for thousands of JCPS students.

Craig, who represents District 3, said during the meeting the decision was made for teachers and staff who have felt unequipped to teach students for years.

“We have to equip this district for success next year, and if we don't, if we continue to kick the legs from out of our administrators and teachers who are begging us to solve this problem, all of us should go home next year," he said in the meeting on Wednesday night.

Shull, representing District 6, said his primary concern was taking away school choice from parents who can’t afford to send their children to schools farther away from home.

“My concern about this transportation plan is that it makes this board of education out to be liars,” Shull said at the meeting. “And that we have sold this community on access and choice, and just two years later we’re ripping the carpet out from under them.”

What’s next for Jefferson County Public Schools?

The plan — which goes into effect this school year — will leave parents, especially those of color in the city, in a tight spot as to what to do for transportation to and from school, said Shull during the meeting.

Members of the board and those in the community who came to the meeting said they wanted to wait and exhaust all options before taking away busing completely from certain schools in the JCPS district.

Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin, who represents District 2 that includes a magnet program affected by the vote on Wednesday night, said she believes the vote disproportionately harms students from the west end.

“It takes away the opportunity to get into decent educational programs,” Shanklin said to LEO Weekly. “I think it was not good for the community.”

Though many parents agreed that a decision had to be made before the beginning of the school year, those who are affected by the decision will need to figure out what to do next, or find another school for their child.

Even before the vote was cast, Louisville Urban League President Lyndon Pryor said any option for transportation for students was “divisive.”

”Taking away buses for magnet schools is going to create incredible further disparities within JCPS for students who are most impacted by poverty, historical discrimination and disinvestment,” Pryor explained in a statement from the Louisville Urban League.

The Louisville NAACP said at its headquarters before the vote that JCPS Superintendent Mary Polio should step down as problems with transportation continue to spiral out of control.

“The district needs a change in leadership. Therefore, the Louisville Branch NAACP is calling for the resignation or dismissal of Superintendent Marty Pollio,” NAACP Louisville branch President Raoul Cunningham said.

The group also called for the resignation of any board member who supported plans to end transportation to and from school for any student in the school district.

Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright — representing District 3 which includes the City of Shively, home to thousands of low-income families affected by the decision — said it was "a big letdown" to see Kolb, who was her campaign manager when she ran for mayor, vote in favor of the motion to remove busing from so many students of color.

"We have time to do better," she said in an email to LEO Weekly. "... Our students, bus drivers, teachers, and faculty, and families deserve better. This hurts too many of our communities. We cannot ask our communities to trust the process if we neglect to follow it.”

As busing troubles persist for JCPS, the United States Department of Justice could still investigate the school system as well. In November, the DOJ questioned the district about its busing situation, but there was no formal investigation at the time.

The DOJ said it had no comment when LEO Weekly reached out.