I was so relieved when I heard that he had been driving kids to school on the same route as long as some of the parents on my street. A Bus driver's job is so important because he has to keep your kids safe and also make them feel comfortable while in a moving vehicle.
I saw on Facebook that the our town, Bridgewater, is considering outsourcing the jobs to another company. Actually I don't understand the nitty gritty of it but here is the Board of Education's side of the story.
"I am happy to address your concerns in this capacity, however I do refrain from representing the BR Board of Education on any social media platform. You are welcome to share the information as you wish.
The District owns a small fleet of buses and employs drivers to drive them. These drivers handle approximately 20% of our regular daily school runs, and also provide flexibility to handle athletic and extracurricular events, field trips, etc. The remaining daytime runs – approximately 80% – are outsourced. It has been this way for many years.
The Board highly values our in-house drivers, who provide exceptionally good service. Unfortunately, in recent years, the cost of employing drivers has skyrocketed. This is largely due to escalating health-insurance premiums, which will actually exceed the drivers’ salaries within the next few years.
To combat these escalating costs without impacting instructional services in the district, our preferred solution is reducing premium costs. But the only way to accomplish this is through a negotiated settlement with the bus drivers’ union (BRTA). We remain committed to negotiating a fair settlement with sustainable insurance premiums, and we remain confident that the process will lead us to that point.
That said, we have no choice but to investigate other options in case negotiations break down. Towards this end, the Board has solicited bids for additional outsourcing. We believe it's wise to know what our options are, but we hope there won't be a need to actually move forward with these back-up plans.
We understand and appreciate that some residents are concerned about the potential impact that additional outsourcing could have on their children. Please rest assured that all our outsourcing partners also provide quality services under our staff’s close supervision. Their drivers pass the same background checks and have the same driving credentials as our drivers do.
The Board highly values our in-house drivers, who provide exceptionally good service. Unfortunately, in recent years, the cost of employing drivers has skyrocketed. This is largely due to escalating health-insurance premiums, which will actually exceed the drivers’ salaries within the next few years.
To combat these escalating costs without impacting instructional services in the district, our preferred solution is reducing premium costs. But the only way to accomplish this is through a negotiated settlement with the bus drivers’ union (BRTA). We remain committed to negotiating a fair settlement with sustainable insurance premiums, and we remain confident that the process will lead us to that point.
That said, we have no choice but to investigate other options in case negotiations break down. Towards this end, the Board has solicited bids for additional outsourcing. We believe it's wise to know what our options are, but we hope there won't be a need to actually move forward with these back-up plans.
We understand and appreciate that some residents are concerned about the potential impact that additional outsourcing could have on their children. Please rest assured that all our outsourcing partners also provide quality services under our staff’s close supervision. Their drivers pass the same background checks and have the same driving credentials as our drivers do.
Again, we look forward to continued conversations with the BRTA to settle a fair contract in the very near future."
Hopefully they will come to an agreement. I would like to support my bus driver... without at the same time getting in the way and making it worse for him though. I definitely don't want him to lose his job. The Tuesday after Memorial day is the BOE (Board of Education) meeting. It would be good at the very least to go to that and find out what is going on.
No comments:
Post a Comment