Community leaders to JCPS: Keep Your Promises and Restore Magnet Transportation

Community leaders are once again putting pressure on Jefferson County Public Schools leaders to restore bus routes for magnet schools, which are already seeing a sizeable drop in applications, according to data obtained by The Courier Journal.

JCPS leaders committed to restoring magnet transportation for some schools this year back in June, thanks to a partnership with the city's public transit system. However, that has yet to happen due to delays in onboarding new drivers.

Meanwhile, the application window to attend magnet and academy programs next school year has closed, despite families not knowing whether their students will have transportation.

The agenda for a Jefferson County Board of Education meeting on Tuesday lists "transportation" as an action item but does not include details. With the end of the current school year nearing, some community leaders fear the upcoming meeting is the board's last chance to ensure restoring magnet routes can have a meaningful impact for students next year.

Former Metro Council President Markus Winker, Louisville Branch NAACP President Raymond Burse and Louisville Urban League (Louisville, KY) President and CEO Lyndon Pryor are now calling for the board to not just restore magnet routes but to also reopen the magnet and academy application window, which closed in December.

That push comes as new data shows roughly 2,600 fewer students applied to enroll in magnet and academy programs in the coming year — a 22.5% decrease from the previous year.

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