Kentucky
Kentucky lawmakers pushing plan for school bus discipline — for students and parents
FRANKFORT — School bus drivers could soon get help in dealing with unruly students under a bill passed by the state House of Representatives on Friday.
Sponsored by Rep. Emily Callaway, R-Louisville, House Bill 446 would require local boards of education to adopt a transportation policy that includes behavioral standards for riding school buses and a clear disciplinary procedure for when students or their parents misbehave.
The policies would need to outline escalating consequences for student or parent misconduct, up to losing bus-riding privileges for severe or repeated misconduct.
Parents and students would also have to sign a document acknowledging the transportation policy within seven days of the first day of the student’s attendance at school.
Not signing the document could result in the student losing bus-riding privileges until the document is signed.
“Drivers have a huge responsibility, and we should respect and address concerns thoroughly,” Callaway said.
She added a section to the bill that would require districts to regulate parental conduct around school buses because school administrators requested it. The purpose is to provide “a clear notice to parents that aggressive behavior will have severe consequences and will not be tolerated,” Callaway said.
Students could lose their bus-riding privileges if their parents or guardians don’t behave. Examples of parent behavior would be injuring or threatening someone on a school bus, threatening or harming a school bus driver specifically and obstructing operations.
The busing crisis in Jefferson County Public Schools was a major impetus for the bill.
In November, the district was forced to cancel nearly 100 routes after bus drivers organized a sickout and 143 called off work. Among their biggest concerns was student behavior, according to drivers and John Stovall, president of the bus drivers’ union, Teamsters 783.
But bus discipline problems are not limited to Louisville: “As we unfolded this problem, we found the whole state is having this issue,” Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louisville, said on the House floor on Friday.
The bill passed nearly unanimously on the House floor. Rep. Mark Hart, R-Falmouth, was the sole “no.” The measure now moves to the Senate for consideration.
What would HB 446 do?
If the bill is enacted, the Kentucky Department of Education would be required to develop a model transportation policy that school boards can use as a basis for their own policies. Under the bill, each district’s policy would need to include certain elements, including:
- Student and parental behavior standards and a discipline structure of increasing consequences for bus misbehavior.
- Procedures for documenting and investigating bus behavior problems and bullying, including details of how drivers can file written or electronic complaints about student or parental behavior.
- A procedure for bus drivers to refuse to transport a student who puts the safety of the driver or other students on the bus at risk. The driver would notify a school district official and the student would be transferred to the custody of a district official, their parent or guardian, or law enforcement.
- A requirement that drivers be heard during disciplinary procedures against students or parents for bus misbehavior. The driver’s recommendation would have to be considered in determining disciplinary action.
- A requirement that drivers be notified of the outcome of disciplinary actions against students and that drivers have a process to receive alternative route assignments if a student has their bus-riding privileges restored after disciplinary action.
Jefferson County Public Schools has no comment on the bill, district spokesperson Carolyn Callahan said. The bus drivers’ union could not immediately be reached for comment.
How are students misbehaving on buses?
The Courier Journal obtained a list of bus referrals from JCPS for the 2022-23 school year, showing nearly 15,000 were issued to students across the system for a variety of reasons.
There were more than three-dozen types of offenses, including physical violence and drug use or possession.
Failure to remain seated on the bus was the most common offense, leading to more than 3,800 referrals, followed by fighting among students with 3,355. Nearly 2,500 students received referrals for horseplay, and there were more than 1,400 referrals for profanity or vulgarity toward students or staff.
“Somebody has got to be in charge. And when you’re talking about a bus rolling down I-65 or I-64, it’s got to be the bus driver,” Bratcher said on the House floor on Friday.
Another bus bill
A separate bus bill, HB 447, also sponsored by Callaway, gained House approval on Friday. That measure would allow school districts to use smaller, nine-passenger vehicles on daily bus routes.
Using the smaller vehicles will allow drivers without commercial driver’s licenses to transport students, Callaway said, which should help with the state’s bus driver shortage.
That bill also gained nearly unanimous House approval, with the sole “no” coming from Rep. David Meade, R-Stanford, and will now move to the Senate for consideration.
Reporter Krista Johnson contributed to this story. Reach Rebecca Grapevine at rgrapevine@courier-journal.com or follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @RebGrapevine.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville celebrated Juneteenth with music, dancing and a parade highlighting Black culture, history and unity.
The Kentucky Black Festival’s Juneteenth Unity Parade brought hundreds of people to west Louisville, with marching bands, dancers, community organizations and families joining together to honor the meaning behind the holiday.
“Seeing the families having a good time seeing everyone dancing, with everything that’s happening in this city and happening in the world, a moment to just take a breath and smile and relax your shoulders is what this is all about,” said Walter Murrah, executive director of the Kentucky Black Foundation.
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
For organizers, the celebration is about more than a parade. It’s about recognizing the history that paved the way for future generations.
“Celebrating Juneteenth is more than just dancing and singing. It’s also reaching back and looking at the giants that paved the way for us, but also taking a moment to just celebrate our blackness because I think oftentimes it’s looked down upon, left out, overlooked, and those kind of things,” Murrah said. “And so being Black is beautiful. Being Black is, you know, it should be celebrated, and that’s what Juneteenth is about, is, you know, marrying the history but also looking ahead to what’s in the future.”
Attendees said the event created a space to celebrate their heritage and come together.
“We’re not celebrated enough, so with this being Juneteenth for freedom and unity to come together, this is the day for us to do that,” said Tara Britt.
Community members also emphasized the importance of teaching younger generations about the holiday and its history.
“It’s very important because if we don’t tell them, they won’t know. We have to get educated to educate them because it’s not in the schools right now,” said Shannon Gilbert. “So we get all the knowledge and give it back to them and make sure they’re educated because they’re the future.”
Organizers said the goal is to make sure Juneteenth is not only remembered but experienced through community celebrations like the parade.
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, but communities across the country have recognized and celebrated the day for decades.
Kentucky
Demetrus Liggins disputes Fayette County board’s claim he resigned, attorneys allege misconduct
LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — The attorneys for Dr. Demetrus Liggins issued a press release Friday alleging the Fayette County Board of Education publicly announced a resignation that never happened, cited the wrong Kentucky statutes to justify placing him on administrative leave, and installed a replacement superintendent without legal authority to do so.
The press release, dated June 19, 2026, gives FCPS a four-day deadline to rescind the administrative leave, withdraw the replacement-superintendent designation, and correct the public record. If the district does not comply, Dr. Liggins’ legal team has reserved the right to pursue contractual, statutory, constitutional, defamation, false-light, civil-rights, and tort claims.
According to the press release, Dr. Liggins proposed discussions toward a possible separation agreement — he did not submit an unconditional resignation. His attorneys allege he expressly corrected the Board’s characterization before the Board acted, yet the Board publicly announced a “resignation notice” anyway.
The press release also notes a striking internal contradiction in the Board’s own June 11 letter: the document’s letterhead continued to identify “Superintendent: Demetrus Liggins, PhD” even while the body of the letter announced an “Acting Superintendent.”
Dr. Liggins’ attorneys argue the Board’s June 11 leave letter cited KRS 160.160 and KRS 160.370 — neither of which, according to counsel, expressly authorizes a board to indefinitely suspend a contracted superintendent, bar him from communicating with district-affiliated persons, exclude him from all school property, and install a substitute officeholder.
Counsel argues the Board deliberately avoided KRS 160.350, the statute that specifically governs superintendent terms, vacancies, acting appointments, and removal for cause, according to the press release.
The press release also invokes Lexington-Fayette’s unique status as Kentucky’s sole urban-county government under KRS Chapter 67A, arguing the Board’s legal framing is further flawed because Fayette County is not governed by the special Chapter 67C school-governance provisions applicable to a consolidated local government such as Louisville–Jefferson County.
Attorney Amos N. Jones issued a direct on-the-record statement in the press release.
“This is not administrative leave in any meaningful sense. They announced a resignation that never happened, displaced the lawful superintendent, installed another superintendent, silenced Dr. Liggins inside his own system, and then hired investigators to determine whether the result already imposed should be imposed. Kentucky law does not allow a school board to manufacture a vacancy, perform a removal first, and search for a justification afterward,” Jones said.
According to the press release, Dr. Liggins’s contract runs through June 30, 2029. His attorneys allege the Board’s actions breach that contract by stripping him of his office, authority, professional standing, and future-career value while continuing to pay his salary. The contract reportedly prohibits reassignment without Dr. Liggins’s express written consent.
The press release notes that any litigation or settlement arising from this dispute could carry significant financial consequences for Fayette County taxpayers.
The press release places individual Board members — not just the institution — on notice of potential personal legal exposure. Attorneys cite what they describe as a false resignation narrative, the alleged creation of a fictitious vacancy, concerted displacement, and a false-light portrayal of Dr. Liggins. The notice also warns Board members that attorneys retained by FCPS may not represent their individual interests and that they should have received Upjohn warnings about privilege and conflicts.
According to the press release, counsel has demanded preservation of all communications, drafts, closed-session materials, media contacts, video records, investigative instructions, succession discussions, and communications with public officials, unions, employees, activists, and outside counsel. The inclusion of “media contacts” and “communications with public officials” in the demand suggests Dr. Liggins’ legal team believes there may be involvement by parties beyond the Board itself.
As of Friday, June 19, 2026, the four-day deadline issued to FCPS is running. If the district does not comply, Dr. Liggins’ legal team has indicated it will pursue legal action.
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