From Herald Leader article link at bottom:
A lack of communication between Fayette County Public Schools and city officials about school bus routes and the Lexington snow removal plan existed prior to classes being canceled Monday due to unsafe roads, the public works commissioner said in a Monday memo. “We did not receive a response from FCPS this year on proposed changes to the (snow) plan so the plan moved forward,” Nancy Albright, Commissioner of Environmental Quality & Public Works told Urban County Council members. She said city officials ask the school district and others for changes to the snow plan each year. “As part of the development of the snow plan we are concerned about assisting FCPS transportation within the road rankings. We do not have a map showing FCPS bus routes,” Albright said.
She said if there are gaps in the rankings of which roads get cleared first with “respect to the bus routes we did not have a way to determine those gaps other than to ask FCPS to review and comment.” Fayette County school district officials didn’t immediately comment to the Herald-Leader about the memo. But Monday night, Superintendent Demetrus Liggins told parents that schools would be back in session Tuesday. “Our transportation team has worked diligently to assess road conditions to ensure the safety of all students and staff. Please note that adjustments have been made to a handful of bus stops. Families impacted by these changes have been contacted today,” Liggins said.
After Monday night’s school board meeting, Liggins told the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner WKYT, “we do have some routes that are still not as clear as we feel are safe enough. We’ve made alternative plans for those families to make sure their students can get to school.” Liggins said district officials will hold a meeting Tuesday to address ways to improve their response to similar situations. “I just wish that we had communicated a little bit more often with our city partners,” Liggins told WKYT. “More frequently with our families, about some of the things we were doing. But at the end of the day, I don’t think we did a poor job and I want our kids back in school as soon as possible.”
On Sunday night, in announcing that Fayette schools would have its fourth day of remote learning and its fifth day of canceled classes due to winter weather, district spokesperson Dia Davidson-Smith said: “Despite the desire to return to in-person learning tomorrow, safety concerns still remain. FCPS crews have been out today checking roads in the county and determined that 20% of bus routes still are unsafe for buses to navigate.” Albright said there was collaboration Monday. She said the school district chief operating officer was connecting snow plan maps with bus route maps. “Hopefully this will identify the extent of bus routes that are not on a ranked road. It is hard for me to say how they reach the percentage of bus routes that are still covered with snow without that information,” Albright said.
“We have also asked FCPS for a list of city streets that they are aware of needing attention this morning so that we can focus on those today,” she said. Albright said Liggins sent a response to city officials, saying not all of the bus routes fall on LFUCG-owned roads, “specifically stating, ‘the challenges are multifaceted, and it’s not solely the responsibility of LFUCG.’” Some of the questions have been about the decision to not have full crews active over the weekend, she said. Roads ranked a high priority were largely clear, said Albright.
“Between the total accumulation and the temperatures, this storm did not trigger the level of response that would have had our crews working on the unranked roads over the weekend,” Albright said.
A lack of communication between Fayette County Public Schools and city officials about school bus routes and the Lexington snow removal plan existed prior to classes being canceled Monday due to unsafe roads, the public works commissioner said in a Monday memo. “We did not receive a response from FCPS this year on proposed changes to the (snow) plan so the plan moved forward,” Nancy Albright, Commissioner of Environmental Quality & Public Works told Urban County Council members. She said city officials ask the school district and others for changes to the snow plan each year. “As part of the development of the snow plan we are concerned about assisting FCPS transportation within the road rankings. We do not have a map showing FCPS bus routes,” Albright said.
She said if there are gaps in the rankings of which roads get cleared first with “respect to the bus routes we did not have a way to determine those gaps other than to ask FCPS to review and comment.” Fayette County school district officials didn’t immediately comment to the Herald-Leader about the memo. But Monday night, Superintendent Demetrus Liggins told parents that schools would be back in session Tuesday. “Our transportation team has worked diligently to assess road conditions to ensure the safety of all students and staff. Please note that adjustments have been made to a handful of bus stops. Families impacted by these changes have been contacted today,” Liggins said.
After Monday night’s school board meeting, Liggins told the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner WKYT, “we do have some routes that are still not as clear as we feel are safe enough. We’ve made alternative plans for those families to make sure their students can get to school.” Liggins said district officials will hold a meeting Tuesday to address ways to improve their response to similar situations. “I just wish that we had communicated a little bit more often with our city partners,” Liggins told WKYT. “More frequently with our families, about some of the things we were doing. But at the end of the day, I don’t think we did a poor job and I want our kids back in school as soon as possible.”
On Sunday night, in announcing that Fayette schools would have its fourth day of remote learning and its fifth day of canceled classes due to winter weather, district spokesperson Dia Davidson-Smith said: “Despite the desire to return to in-person learning tomorrow, safety concerns still remain. FCPS crews have been out today checking roads in the county and determined that 20% of bus routes still are unsafe for buses to navigate.” Albright said there was collaboration Monday. She said the school district chief operating officer was connecting snow plan maps with bus route maps. “Hopefully this will identify the extent of bus routes that are not on a ranked road. It is hard for me to say how they reach the percentage of bus routes that are still covered with snow without that information,” Albright said.
“We have also asked FCPS for a list of city streets that they are aware of needing attention this morning so that we can focus on those today,” she said. Albright said Liggins sent a response to city officials, saying not all of the bus routes fall on LFUCG-owned roads, “specifically stating, ‘the challenges are multifaceted, and it’s not solely the responsibility of LFUCG.’” Some of the questions have been about the decision to not have full crews active over the weekend, she said. Roads ranked a high priority were largely clear, said Albright.
“Between the total accumulation and the temperatures, this storm did not trigger the level of response that would have had our crews working on the unranked roads over the weekend,” Albright said.
