The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
Lawsuit will not alter start of school
JCPS to open Thursday despite busing issues
JCPS is still starting school Thursday as planned, despite a legal effort to reinstate busing for all magnet students.
At a court hearing Friday, attorney Teddy Gordon argued for a temporary restraining order that would force the district to provide busing to all schools on the first day.
Comments made at the hearing have since caused concern over whether the start of the year will be delayed. But a judge declined to make an immediate ruling regarding the motion, allowing JCPS to move forward with its first day.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of two JCPS parents, argues the district is discriminating against Black students by taking away magnet transportation, which eliminates their chances of attending the district’s top-performing schools.
JCPS’ attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. Several briefs related to that motion are required to be filed by the middle of next week, and District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings is not expected to make any rulings before then.
The confusion about the start of the year is related to a hypothetical situation discussed in court.
Superintendent Marty Pollio, along with Chief Operations Officer Rob Fulk, testified about the complicated process of creating bus routes that cover nearly every part of Jefferson County. This year, in order to address many issues in last year’s transportation plan, Fulk created a routing team that completely reworked all of the district’s routes, which took about three months.
About 18,000 students were
impacted by the board’s vote to end busing for most magnet and traditional schools. To add them back into the plan, Fulk said, the routing team would have to start from scratch because they cannot simply reuse routes from last year.
Over the summer, new students have enrolled in the district, some have moved to different addresses and schools were reduced to three different start times, from nine.
If forced to add magnet students back in, a new plan wouldn’t be ready until early November, Fulk and Pollio said. The two also described the financial toll the order could have on the district if it were to delay school but continue to pay teachers.
On Monday, Pollio declined to comment on what the district would do if the judge decides to approve the restraining order. Aside from cancelling school, the district could switch to virtual learning or it could further limit busing to avoid the possibility of discrimination.
JCPS is not required to bus most of its students. Only students with certain special needs and all homeless students are federally required to be transported.