Parents concerned over new WCPS bus routes

WARREN CO., Ky.-“I just would really like to have some answers,” said one parent of a WCPS student. 

“Whenever I saw it, I was immediately concerned for my kid’s safety,” said another parent. 

Warren County Public Schools just released the new bus routes for the upcoming school year. 

Parents are outraged, pointing out multiple concerns over the routes. 

“It makes me wonder if more could have been done or somebody could have put more thought into the new bus stops,” said parent Emily Poston. 

Last school year, buses would drop off and pick up kids at their driveway. 

Poston says the new bus stop is a ten minute walk from their house, out of her line of sight. 

“Unsupervised, you just never know what could happen. There could be an accident, a car could be driving too fast, they could get hurt, god forbid they get kidnapped,” said Poston. 

One concerned mom told News 40 that her son will be walking this road for over a mile to get to his bus stop. There are no sidewalks, meaning the kid will have to walk in the grass or on the street. The cars here can travel up to 50 miles per hour. So the question is how is this safe for our kids?

“They drive pretty fast. I’m not even comfortable with him playing in our front yard on that road. I don’t let him do that, let alone let him walk up and down it,” said parent Jennifer Bowman. 

These bus routes also come out just a week before school starts, leaving parents panicking, trying to figure out plans. 

“It’s very short notice. Now we have to scramble to find out what to do. And the answers we’ve received on the Q and A so far are just that we are responsible for them once they’re dropped off at the bus stop. So parents should be there or someone should be there if they’re concerned. Well, I work full time so that’s kind of an issue,” said Bowman. 

WCPS has been transparent about the ongoing bus driver shortage. today, there are only 161 drivers compared to 213 in 2017. The school district has also gained nearly 3,000 students since 2017.

“We’ve gone to great lengths to mitigate the challenges in where we place those bus stops and I can ensure our community that we’ve used all available information and we’re working within the constraints that we have,” said WCPS Superintendent Rob Clayton. 

The first day of school is Wednesday, August 10th.