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To the Editor:
That time of the year is upon us. No, not Christmas, but budget time.
Since I’m a school bus contractor, it’s a very important time of the
year for me and other contractors, most importantly, our bus drivers.
I had the privilege to sit in on a couple of committee meetings with
some fellow school bus contractors and Department of Transportation
representatives where the subject of the budget for the upcoming school
year has come up.
One of the most important parts of that discussion was reasonably
increasing the funding of the contracts. Since we are independent
contractors, this would allow us to pay our drivers a fair and equitable
salary for the job they perform.
Because our contracts are not independently negotiated and the cost of
each contract is determined by the Transportation Department using an
out dated formula that is really contrary to independent contracting
laws and rules, we are at the mercy of that antiquated system in terms
of how much each contract is worth. The most important asset to our
entire school system is our drivers.
Without bus transportation there would be no school system in St. Mary’s
County, or at best, it would be total chaos. How many parents could and
would opt to transport their children to and from school?
Think about it. Unless we take a very serious look at the contracts and
come up with a way of increasing the funding for these bus contracts,
our school transportation system is going to be in serious jeopardy.
I know to most parents it’s not perceived that way but, I think if most
parents fully understood the specialization and professionalism of the
job that these drivers perform day in and day out, they would probably
say, no way would I take on that responsibility for that pay.
Without going into total detail, it is expected that these drivers
perform a litany of other task, without being compensated, that has
little or nothing to do with driving. From the parents perspective all
we observe is the bus transporting students from home to school and
school to home.
Most, if not all of us, don’t have a clue as to how much is involved
during these runs and after the run is over for the day. These drivers
are under federally mandated laws every time they get behind the wheel
and operate any vehicle, private or commercial, in any state.
They are subject to random drug and alcohol testing and if either is
found in their system, he or she is out of a job.
The point system a Commercial Driver License (CDL) holder is under is a
lot more stringent than a regular license holder.
With that being said, I’m hoping that our elected officials, The Board
of Education and County Commissioners, will take the time to engage in
some serious conversation with the bus contractors, especially those who
advocate fair and equitable pay for those drivers that transport our
precious students.
I think it would be safe to say that very few of us are aware of the
constant pressures that our school bus drivers are faced with each and
every day.
Realizing in today’s society that practically everything is budget
driven, I feel that we as a county should drive towards providing more
immediate funding to the bus contractors so they can afford to offer
these professional drivers a respectable salary.
I know this might not seem important or very high on the list of
priorities but, trust me, in a few short years you will see that this
should have been at the very top of that list. Due to the high cost of
maintenance and the very temperamental nature of the buses today, we
take a financial beating just trying to keep them in a safe and
operational condition. That is part of why most contractors are at a
disadvantage when it comes to trying to compete with the local economy.
We can’t offer a paid health plan, vacation, sick leave or a descent
salary like so many of the government contractors and, the government.
We need these drivers on the routes for the 180 days of the school year
and so does the county, parents and teachers, this is why we need
funding increases in the contracts to provide the type of pay and
incentives for these driving professionals to stay on their jobs and
continue to provide the service that is so critical to the survival of
our schools, communities, and future.
It’s time that we put this in the proper context and realize that in
this county that our bus drivers are the most important cog in this
education machine.
Teachers and other education professionals will come from across the
country for a job but, I don’t think you will find people doing that to
drive a bus for the salaries that these professionals get. Without them
there would be very few, if any, jobs for the teachers or other
professionals in our school system.
William Barnes
Hermanville
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