JCPS' decision to end Magnet school busing hurts high school seniors the most
We come here from a big metropolitan area and we weren’t sure of how things would go here in Kentucky regarding schools because we heard the stories. Nevertheless, we pressed on and did our due diligence by researching all of the Magnet programs before selecting a school that would fit our students' future endeavors.
Now this, how is it that the students who will be seniors in the 2024-25 school year will not have transportation?These students picked nursing, banking, auto and arts programs at Magnet schools. Now, it is all for not for many of the returning seniors because there will be no transportation. They won’t be able to complete what they started. What’s even more disheartening is the audit showed it is not necessary to do away with transportation. The real question should be: Why then did the JCPS make the decision to impact families across the county? They have high school students starting schools at 8:40 a.m., and elementary starting at 7:40 a.m., why? This is the time our young adults start getting their first jobs, but now many of them get home too late to work or help out with younger siblings, and no one is talking about the fact that most parents often have to be at work before their students' new school start times. Are employers going to be willing to implement flexible schedules? Will police be on the TARCS to ensure safety when students start riding? Has anyone considered that behavior issues will escalate and affect adults arriving to work on time? What is the plan for that?
The people on the board who went against the auditor’s suggestions regarding transportation and voted to discontinue transportation for an entire community should never ever be allowed to make decisions that have the ability to disrupt people’s lives ever again without consequences. If their paychecks were on the line, I bet our students would have bus transportation next school year.
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—Lisa Brady, 40216
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Seniors are hit hardest by JCPS' decision to end Magnet school busing
