‘I’m terrified to put this kid on the bus’: JCPS parents worried after first-day chaos

Parents say they are frustrated and worried about their children’s safety after severe bus delays forced Jefferson County Public Schools to cancel the next two days of classes − hours before the second day of school was set to begin.

Students spent hours waiting on buses Wednesday, the first day of school and the start of a new busing system. More than 100 parents contacted the Courier Journal to report problems with their child's transportation. Parents said they were particularly upset by the district's lack of communication about when their children would arrive home from school.

The last bus riders weren't dropped off until 9:58 p.m. Wednesday, according to an email from JCPS spokeswoman Carolyn Callahan.

There were also delays getting students to school.

Erika Smallwood said her daughters, ages 8 and 10, were supposed to arrive at Blue Lick Elementary School at 9 a.m., but the bus didn't reach the building until almost 10 a.m. What should have been a 45-minute bus ride lasted nearly two hours.

Smallwood said the bus her children rode didn’t have air conditioning, and since kids weren’t allowed to have food or drink on the bus, her autistic daughter, who has low blood sugar and must eat every two hours, was told she couldn’t eat because there were “no exceptions.”

Smallwood said her family also couldn’t find her 7-year-old nephew Wednesday night. No one from his school or the bus depot hotline answered their calls, so the family drove around town trying to find him, she said, adding that the second grader didn't get home from school until 8:47 p.m. He was supposed to arrive at 3:14 p.m.

“I feel like JCPS dropped an atomic bomb yesterday; that’s what it feels like to me,” Smallwood said. “You have kindergarteners getting lost ... it just scares me as a parent to even send them back at all, like, I’d rather homeschool my kids then continue to send them into a system that doesn’t really care about their safety.”

Citing a Facebook post, Smallwood said at one point there were students from elementary, middle and high schools all on one bus. That Facebook image depicted elementary school children standing in crowded aisles while other students crammed to fit on bus seats.

Mari Deleon said her first grader didn’t get home from Stonestreet Elementary until after 6 p.m. Wednesday. He was supposed to be dropped off at 3:18 p.m. She said she called JCPS bus depots more than 50 times on Wednesday while trying to locate her son.

“I have no solution. I’m terrified to put this kid on the bus,” she said.

When her son arrived home, he didn’t have his backpack, she said. Despite his name being written on the outside of the bag, it was taken by a parent who was let on the bus during the afternoon route, her son told her. He said he told the parent the bag was his and started crying, but the parent still took it, she said.

Deleon said she is concerned that a stranger has the personal bus information, address and phone number that were in her son's backpack. She also said the bus driver told her they had to drive around the neighborhood five times searching for her house, since her son didn’t have his bag with his bus information.

“This was just such a betrayal of the trust you put in other people to teach and take care of your child when they’re in the district’s hands,” Deleon said.

Deleon doesn’t think JCPS will be able to fix the busing issues in the coming days, so she is planning to sign her son out of school early every day so she can pick him up and avoid relying on busing.

She said normally school being canceled would disrupt her entire family’s day, but she's lucky she has family visiting from out of state this week to help watch her children.

Melanie Duke said she had a relatively fine experience on the first day, despite her child arriving home an hour later than scheduled from Norton Commons Elementary School. However, she said as a parent, the situation with JCPS affects everyone.

“I feel the weight of just JCPS’ decision making, and I know there’s so many factors. We have great administrators, great staff, like people that work really hard, but this feels just a little unprecedented and unacceptable,” she said. “It’s kind of shocking, but we’re gonna be OK. There’s a lot of families that are scrambling today, and it’s a little heartbreaking, so I hope they can figure it out.”

Christine Collins has two children, ages 14 and 11, enrolled at Butler High School and Lassiter Middle School. While her son’s bus was only three minutes late, her daughter’s bus didn’t show up at the assigned stop. After waiting an hour, Collins said she decided to take her daughter to school, fighting through “gridlock” traffic on Crums Lane.

Collins said some of her neighbors explained the bus arrived at the entrance of their mobile home park on Outer Loop rather than the family’s pickup stop, which is at the subdivision's office.

Collins described the situation as “crazy.”

“How it’s looking is that they’re wanting my 14-year-old daughter to get on her bus in the dark on a busy road (and) cross traffic,” she said.

Collins said the bus delays and now the closure are causing children to suffer and miss out on learning time, which they’ll be required to make up.

“It’s not right that our children are being punished over something that JCPS has done.”

Reach reporter Kate Marijolovic at kmarijolovic@gannett.com or on Twitter @kmarijolovic. Features reporter Leah Hunter can be reached via email at lhunter@gannett.com or on Twitter @theleahhunter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: JCPS parents worried after first-day bus delays, chaos