‘Imperfect plan:’ Fayette special schools will reopen March 22 despite bus driver shortage

Several special Fayette County school programs delayed from returning to in-person instruction because of a bus driver shortage will reopen March 22, Acting Superintendent Marlene Helm told families in a Friday letter.

“Faced with a difficult situation, we have developed a workable, but imperfect plan,” Helm said.

After students in the district learned virtually from home for nearly a year during the coronavirus pandemic, elementary students began returning to school buildings Feb. 22 and main middle and high school students will all return by Monday March 15.

However, the pandemic exacerbated the bus driver shortage the district battled for years, and families were upset because it had delayed the reopening of special schools — including the Carter G. Woodson Academy, STEAM Academy, Success Academy, The Learning Center, and The Stables.

A new Kentucky law passed during the 2021 General Assembly said all students must be offered in-person instruction by March 29.

“Although we still do not have enough drivers to replicate the service we had a year ago, we have maximized all available resources and feel confident we will be able to welcome our students attending special programs back to campus beginning Monday, March 22,” Helm said.

For Carter G. Woodson Academy, STEAM Academy, Success Academy, The Learning Center and The Stables, some families are providing their own transportation and those students are following their regular schedule.

Those using district bus transportation will be in-person from roughly 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. Bus riders will catch their home high school morning bus to their districted high school and from there transfer to a shuttle bus or van, which will take them to the special program.

Each program will make individual arrangements for bus riders to receive the rest of their instruction virtually.

At Martin Luther King Academy, the school day will run from 10:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Students will be picked up on neighborhood routes and taken directly to school.

Eastside Technical Center, Locust Trace AgriScience Center and Southside Technical Center students will spend their entire day at their home high schools through March 19. Starting the week of March 22, students who have their own transportation will return to the technical centers. Shuttle service for students needing district transportation will begin after spring break.

Bluegrass Community and Technical College is still operating virtually, so Opportunity Middle College students who attend will continue to receive their dual enrollment classes online. Families will individually receive specific information prior to spring break about transportation arrangements for the high school component of students’ coursework.

Other students will get individual instructions about the return.

“We remain committed to ensuring that every student whose family chose in-person learning has that opportunity, and we are using every available resource to make that happen,” said Helm. “This may occasionally create some delayed or canceled bus routes and we will notify families if such a situation should occur.”

“We are continuing efforts to recruit more bus drivers and hope to not only avoid interruption, but also to be able to expand transportation service as our staffing grows,” she said.

This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 6:03 PM.