“I come to you today after making one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult, decision of my superintendent career and that was to cancel day two and day three of the school year Thursday and Friday.”

Jefferson County, Ky., Public Schools Superintendent Marty Pollio, regarding the cancellation of the second and third days of the school year due to a “transportation disaster” that left some children on buses until just before 10 p.m. after the first day of school. The disaster came after a major overhaul to school bus routes and school start times this year meant to alleviate the struggles surrounding a bus driver shortage; the district spent $199,000 to create a plan that would cut the number of bus routes and stops. JCPS is Kentucky’s largest school system and has 96,000 students. District officials will spend the next several days reviewing the routes and having bus drivers practice them before students return on Monday. (Associated Press — Aug. 10, 2023)