Fayette County Public Schools and the city are drawing up Plan B bus routes that combine neighborhood stops after bad snow, so students return to class sooner.

Fayette County Public Schools buses may stop at fewer, combined neighborhood stops after a heavy snow, under a backup plan the district and the city are drawing up together.

The aim is to get students back in class sooner, instead of waiting until every neighborhood street is clear. Mayor Linda Gorton and Interim Superintendent Bill Bradford announced the work Thursday in a city news release, which the district also posted on its own news page.

What the plan would change

The city calls them “Plan B” routes. According to the release:

  • some neighborhood bus stops would be combined into one
  • the changes would apply to stops inside neighborhoods, not along major roads
  • the routes would be used only in extreme winter weather
  • a planning group of city and school staff has been meeting regularly to map them

“These are changes that would occur at stops within neighborhoods, not along major thoroughfares,” Gorton said.

The release did not say how many stops would be combined, which neighborhoods are affected or when the routes will be final. It also did not say how families would be told that Plan B is in effect on a given day.

Why now

Gorton said she has asked the schools to consider backup routes for several years. “It was one of the first questions I asked Interim Superintendent Bill Bradford, and he immediately agreed to explore the idea,” she said.

Bradford made the project a priority in his leadership plan for the 2026-27 school year, the city said.

“There is no substitute for in-person learning,” Bradford said. “While we rely on the city to optimize and clear our primary and secondary roads, having a structured backup plan ensures that as soon as conditions allow us to transport students safely, we will.”

The bus plan sits alongside the city’s new snow and ice plan, announced Oct. 13. That plan promises to salt every ranked street within four hours of a storm starting, and it lists streets needed to open schools among its priorities. We covered it in Lexington’s snow plan: all ranked streets salted in 4 hours.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes yet. Your child’s normal stop stays the same. The Plan B routes are still being drawn up.
  • Expect a different stop on some snow days. If the plan is adopted, your child could be picked up at a combined neighborhood stop instead of the usual one, on extreme weather days only.
  • Watch for district messages. FCPS has not yet said how it will publish the Plan B stops. We will add that here when it does.
  • Questions about school transportation: contact Fayette County Public Schools at 859-422-4100.

For school ratings, zones and calendars, see our Lexington schools pages.