Mar. 21—BARNUM — By terminating transportation services for the Barnum school district and contracting with a private transportation company, some officials hoped this could be the solution to finally correcting a longstanding bus driver shortage.
However, after receiving three contract bids that were either incomplete or over budget, the Barnum School Board was forced to contend that contracting the district's transportation to a private company was also not feasible. On Monday, March 18, board members voted unanimously to reject the bids.
"It was good just to see that process and see this is not a viable option for us. Now we know that," Vice Chair Steph Ferrin said.
The district opened bids for a private company to purchase its fleet and take over its busing operations. There was one serious contender: 4.0 School Services, which operates bus lines across the state, including nearby Carlton and Cromwell-Wright districts.
The decision to reject the bids came at the urging of Superintendent Bill Peel. He said this would've cost the district up to $150,000 more than it currently pays for transportation.
"We understood it was going to be more expensive, a little bit more expensive. But we didn't think it was gonna be that (much) more expensive," Peel said.
Some district officials were hopeful that contracting a private company would provide the resources to attract new drivers and maintain, and possibly even expand, routes.
The push to contract transportation caused drivers to fear for their job security and benefits. If the school board decided to terminate the bus fleet, the district would likely terminate the drivers and the new contractor would have to hire them — putting the drivers' union, benefits and pension at risk. This was met with strong resistance from drivers, their union and community members.
The decision to maintain the fleet was welcomed by some drivers, who were present at the meeting Monday, March 18.
"We're just happy and thought it was a very good decision," driver Dave Jezierski said.
"We're happy they're still running, but also our members aren't losing their pension," said Tom Whiteside, the Barnum drivers' union representative for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Driver Bob Kisler said they are "not the invisible person who gets kids to school."
"We're human beings, and we care about the kids, care about the buses, care about the community," said.
However, the decision not to contract transportation brings the district's busing issues back to square one.