LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A two-month pause in the case of a federal busing lawsuit against Jefferson County Public Schools’ busing plan has been extended.
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The lawsuit filed over the summer argues the district’s decision to cut transportation for thousands of magnet and traditional students violates students’ civil rights.
In August, both sides of the lawsuit agreed to a 60-day pause pending the implementation of JCPS’s bus plan and to restore some transportation.
According to court documents filed in Jefferson County on Monday, both sides have agreed to another 30-day “stay” period as JCPS continues to try restoring some transportation.
The district has been working to certify drivers from Transit Authority of River City, who otherwise would have risked layoffs from the city’s public transit system.
However, JCPS said certifying drivers has “proven to be slower than originally hoped.” Because of that delay, both parties extended the “stay period” as the district continues to try and expand its bus services.
The federal civil rights lawsuit was filed June 20 by parents who have students who attend Male and duPont Manual High Schools and Whitney Young Elementary.
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It claims the district’s bus plan, passed in April, has a disproportionately negative effect on students of color and violates their civil rights. The parents claimed the kids’ civil rights are being “eviscerated by Defendants’ edict of April 10, 2024.” They said they placed their kids in magnet and traditional schools because of the quality of the education and “to decrease the achievement gaps between African American students and Caucasian students of 15 to 60% which has existed for three generations of students attending JCPS.”
The school district agreed to make Whitney Young, Manual and Male and other schools a priority in restoring bus routes if there are enough drivers.
Route restoration is dependent on the number of TARC drivers that become certified to drive a school bus. The former public transit drivers are expected to transition over to JCPS, a deal worked out between the school district and city’s public transit system, as TARC deals with a financial crisis. The drivers otherwise risked being laid off.
JCPS needs 60 TARC drivers to get the proper certification. As of Tuesday, a spokesperson for the district said there are currently 43 TARC drivers who are certified, with five scheduled to test next week and three scheduled to test the following week.
This story may be updated.
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