Jefferson County Public Schools officials last week restored transportation for students at six schools who had been without a bus since August.
The Jefferson County Board of Education cut transportation to most magnet schools due to a bus driver shortage. JCPS officials planned to bring some transportation back in September, but delays in certifying TARC employees to drive school buses left the district without the needed drivers until this spring.
District officials told KyCIR the restored bus service will continue next fall at Johnson Traditional Middle, Coleridge-Taylor and Whitney M. Young elementary schools, and for low-income students at Male, Manual and Butler high schools.
One student who’s been waiting for her bus to be restored is duPont Manual High School Junior Kennedy Miles. The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting profiled Miles last fall, when her mother drove her to school between her part-time night shift and her day job.
I caught up with Miles to talk about how she managed without a school bus and how she’s been doing since her route was restored on March 17.
Click the player above to listen. Or read the transcript below.
This transcript is edited for length and clarity.
MILES: In the first semester, I didn't think it was going to be that bad. Like, I was kind of keeping up my grades. But in the second semester, a lot of things started changing and it started getting harder. And also, it's my junior year, so…
CLARK: That's a tough year at Manual…
MILES: Yes, especially at Manual. So my grades have been slipping, a lot. I used to have all A’s and stuff, and now they're going down to really low B's and I'm kind of getting scared they might go to C's. But me being late has really affected, like, my ability to even understand and interpret what's going on in the class. Sometimes that 20 minutes of missed class, I honestly just don't even know what's going on for the rest of the period, the rest of the block. And then when we have tests, I usually fail them because I just don't even know what's happening most of the time.
CLARK: And this is in your Spanish class?
MILES: Yeah, this is particularly my Spanish class.
CLARK: Did you face any disciplinary consequences because of your tardies?
MILES: Luckily, I was able to, like, not, and I just got a bunch of warnings. I know that I was originally supposed to get detentions, but after I told my story to the people in the head of transportation and stuff like that, they were able to be like, ‘Okay, I'll get you off, like, with a warning, like, just this one.’ Eventually they did it at least twice, because I've only gotten called down to the office about two times. What I've really been noticing about the loss of buses, that when I did get called down to the office, what I noticed is that it was really, like, only minorities, and I was just like, I don't know. I just, it kind of just made me feel a certain way, because I feel like it kind of does highlight that, like, there are certain people that really do depend on buses and public transportation is really important for us.
CLARK: Do you have a sense of how many other students are dealing with this at Manual?
MILES: I mean, from all the kids that I walk in late with, I can, tell it's really just not me. Even if you're a minute late, they count you. And it's so annoying. But like, I know some of my friends are just like, ‘Yeah, like, I'm gonna be here late.’ Like, even if I'm a minute late, they still count me. So, sometimes they go to Starbucks and they get a drink and then they come to school, because they're just like, ‘I'm gonna be counted late anyways.’
CLARK: Tell me about how things have changed for you since last Monday.
MILES: I think things have changed a lot. Like, even my friends, they're like, ‘Oh my god, like Kennedy’s here, like, oh, at 7:20!’ They're laughing and stuff. I remember that the first day, everybody was laughing about how I was here. It's been a lot better, like, with having busing. And that really just shows, like, how important having busing really is. And also it helps a lot because my best friend is also on the same bus as me. So, because we're both, like, getting on the bus now I get to see them, like every morning. And I get to go to school and I'm hoping that, like, I can actually be to class on time and start understanding, like, my classes. Because I think with me being to class on time it really has made me be able to, like, get closer with my teachers and stuff. I was a lot closer to one of my teachers because I was able to, like, talk to them before class was starting and stuff like that.
CLARK: How has your mom been since, since you got the bus? How's she doing?
MILES: She's been, like, really happy. She's gotten to sleep a lot more. So, she just gets up and tries to make me breakfast. And, you know, sometimes she even, like, packs my lunch for me. She's like, ‘Here you go,’ like, and ‘Bye.’ And it's kind of, like – before we had a bus, there would be, like, yelling and being, like, ‘You need to come on,’ and stuff like that. And we were both, like, really stressed, and we kind of get mad at each other sometimes. But I feel with, like, the new busing, it has kind of made our relationship a little better and stuff like that because she, she's able to be, like, I don't know. In a way, like, she's able to be more of a mom rather than, like, a worker. And I think that's, really — I think it's really nice.
