School Bus Owner/Operators Press Their Case With District Administrators

By Eliza Hallabeck

A meeting between the owner/operators and the school district brought concerns and cost saving ideas to the table on Monday, March 30, and after the meeting the owner/operators unanimously voted to take a pay freeze in response to the current economic situation.

According to minutes from the meeting, concerns about current routes, a lack of communication, and cost saving measures were just some of the things discussed during the meeting.

The list of routes was reviewed over the summer by the Transportation Committee, and complications with the computer software that was being used to place students at their bus stops made the process of rerouting for this year’s schedule complex.

During a Transportation Committee meeting in June, the committee decided to have the bus schedule reviewed because there were problem areas that needed correcting. Some bus drivers were starting routes on the opposite side of town from where they live or from where their bus is stationed. Other problem areas involved bus routes with too many or too few students on them.

Monday’s meeting between the owner/operators and the school district revisited the concerns, and, according to the minutes, “Runs should be completely redone in June.” Later in the minutes it also said, “Routes need to be fixed and drivers need to begin and end their routes at or near their homes. This is not happening this year, which adds fuel [costs].”

Three furlough days taken out of the school calendar for next year, according to Superintendent of Schools Janet Robinson, will save the district roughly $16,000 in transportation costs.

“Every summer the routes have to be redrawn as the population moves to the next school,” wrote Dr Robinson in an email. She was away for conferences when contacted on Wednesday. She continued, “New kids move in. Also, this summer we are transitioning from our current student data base to Power School, so we will have whatever little glitches a new software program brings. There are few alternatives for bus routes, so we anticipate few changes.”

The day after the meeting with the district, owner/operator Carey Schierloh responded on behalf of the owner/operators in a statement for the district administrators and the Board of Education.

“Due to the series state of the economy and in an effort to keep taxes from increasing while maintaining our education system, in addition to the three furlough days, the owner/operators unanimously agreed not to take our pay increase for the 2009-2010 school year, with the hope this will help preserve teaching positions,” the statement said.

In a phone interview on Wednesday, Ms Schierloh said a majority of the owner/operators in town were at the meeting on Monday, and said they are always hopeful in finding ways to better transportation as a whole.

“We are the only profession [within the district] where our cost of business is going up,” Ms Schierloh said, regarding costs owner/operators incur to continue their jobs in town, like insurance for the vehicles.

Owner/operator Paul Miles said during a phone interview on Wednesday that there are “so many little things that could be done to save costs.”

In response to the meeting on Monday, Mr Miles said it is really coming down to reducing waste.

“With the economic environment that is around us right now, I would hope that the Board of Education and the Transportation Department would try to save money in any way they can,” he said, “which would be to utilize us.”

Both Mr Miles and Ms Schierloh said the owner/operators have previously presented ways to save costs, including ideas to redo the bus routes in town.

Mr Miles said members of the school board have shown interest in “making us efficient and streamlined, and that is important to us,” and added that their efforts are appreciated.

By email on Wednesday, Dr Robinson said she does not anticipate any cost savings in transportation.

“Everyone is contributing in some way to save jobs,” Dr Robinson wrote, regarding employees in the district.