School Board Approves 4-Year Contract Extension With Independent Bus Drivers, Who Say They Can Handle 100 Routes; Extension Given On Custodial Contract

  • Thursday, January 19, 2017

The county school board on Thursday night extended the contract by four years of school bus owner operators, who said they could deliver on 100 bus routes.

The board delayed until a special meeting at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at Central High School the issue of whether to accept the offer of 100 contract routes. That would be handled by many of the current 49 owner operators taking several routes and finding drivers.

Attorney Scott Bennett said there is a question on how insurance coverage would be affected for an owner operator who "becomes a bus company."

The board has been looking much more favorably on independent drivers since the Nov. 21 wreck that killed six Woodmore Elementary School students. The driver worked for Durham School Services, which now has most of the bus routes.

The board also delayed until Saturday the issue of putting out a new Request for Proposals for a private bus firm - until settling on the issue of 100 bus routes for independent drivers. It was noted that if the number goes up that much for contract drivers, it would leave fewer routes for a private firm.

The Durham contract expires soon.

Contract drivers said if they plan to order new buses they need to place the order by the end of March.

School officials said it has been necessary to pay premium rates in order to find school bus drivers for Durham. One incentive was to raise the starting pay from $13 an hour to $15 an hour.

Christie Jordan, finance director, computed that the school system could save $1.9 million per year on what it is now paying and running the transportation system itself.

She said it might cost $10 million to $14 million for securing a bus fleet.

Meanwhile, the board approved an 11-month extension (instead of 24 months) for the ABM custodial contract.

A number of board members and staff said they had been unhappy with the firm's cleaning and with its low pay for employees.

However, Assistant Supt. Lee McDade said the contract was due to run out in the middle of the summer and it might not leave schools clean for the start of the school year if there was a shift in firms at that time.

A couple of board members said there has been noted improvement from the firm in recent weeks.

However, Tiffanie Robinson said 12 out of her 13 schools "are incredibly unhappy" with the company.

Rhonda Thurman said she had complaints about the treatment of employees, a lack of cleaning supplies provided them and the fact some have worked as custodians for over a decade and still make $10 an hour.

She said she was voting for the extension only because of the reasoning given about it ending in the summer.

David Testerman said the situation with the buses and the custodians showed that "if you want to save money, you don't do it with buses, custodians for what you pay your teachers."

He said, "You get what you pay for."

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