The Woodmore School bus tragedy in which six children were killed has the county school board looking at a possible return to contractor drivers.
Noting the difficulty private firms have in finding drivers who earn no benefits, Rhonda Thurman said, "It's very important that students know their bus drivers." She said she had the same driver all through school.
Ms. Thurman said Bradley County allows independent drivers to have several routes, and the county schools should consider following suit.
Joe Wingate, another board member, said, "To me, driving a school bus is not a part-time gig."
He said part-time drivers may or may not show up for work and "they don't care if they run the bus in the ditch - it's not their bus."
Another board member, Tiffanie Robinson, said she "could not agree more," and Board Chairman Steve Highlander said, "I would tend to go with the contract bus drivers."
Lee McDade, assistant superintendent, said the contract with Durham School Services runs out in June. He said there is an option for another four years. Dr. McDade said Durham is willing to grant a one-year extension while the county figures out which route to take.
He said Durham has made a host of safety improvements since the Nov. 21 tragedy on Talley Road in Brainerd.
That includes, he said, paying for monitors on buses, providing extra safety training, adding safety personnel, and installing a fourth camera on the buses - this one aimed at the driver. He said bus speeds are monitored daily.
Dr. McDade said Durham has agreed to pay for the funerals of the victims and to provide transportation for families to the funerals. He said the firm is fully cooperating with the investigation and wants to settle lawsuits brought against it as quickly as possible.
He said there would not be time to get another bus firm in place by June if the board opted to go back out for bids and found another private operator it wanted to try. He said the firm would have to spend some $10 million on buses and would not place the order until it had a signed contract.
Dr. McDade said in 2013 the board saved $1 million on transportation when it went with Durham and another $1 million by switching to a private custodial firm. He said, "It was the talk of the town."
Ben Coulter, transportation director, said finding drivers remains a problem for Durham and other private operators. He said there are 195 routes and 197 drivers. "They have to have perfect attendance," he said.
He said private bus drivers earn less than $18,000 per year and have stretches with no pay coming in.
Justin Witt told the board that it is late in the game for going out for bid on replacing the ABM firm, which has had the custodial contract since 2013.
However, several board members said they get numerous complaints about the firm's job performance.
Chairman Highlander said, "I have been in some pretty nasty restrooms."
Dr. McDade said, even if there is a company change, "You wind up with the same work force."
Employees are paid about $9 per hour.
Mr. Wingate questioned why the matter had been brought to the board so late. He said, "Next time I won't be caught with my pants down." He added, "I have heard nothing good about ABM."