Kentucky district to spend $1.5M on new bus radios

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jefferson County Public Schools will spend $1.5 million to replace the radios in its 1,200 school buses. The purchase will help the district meet new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines.

Buses in the district are currently equipped with wideband radios that have limited capacity, meaning that individual bus drivers cannot be contacted directly, the Courier Journal reports.

Currently, one channel is shared by as many as 300 buses. The new system will give the district 13 different frequency channels, reducing the number of buses using each channel to 100. It will also allow drivers to use the radios outside of Jefferson County during field trips, where the old radios have poor reception.

The district is planning to install the new radios within the next 30 days.