Employees, Public Speak Out on Possible School Bus Outsourcing
Valley View board could decide issue as early as Dec. 12.
There may be some rough sledding ahead for Valley View School District in the next couple of months, as school officials, caught in an ever-tightening budget crunch, continue to seek ways to cut expenditures.
As early as Dec. 12, the district could decide to hire a private contractor to provide its transportation services — a move that Gary Grizaffi, assistant superintendent for administrative services, has said could save more than $1 million.
According to Grizaffi, a $3.6 million reduction in state aid has left Valley View with “a large gap and no relief in sight.” As part of an effort to close that gap, in September, school officials began closely evaluating the district’s transportation costs.
Valley View currently employs more than 250 employees in its transportation department, all of whom could face layoffs if the district opts to outsource. But during a public hearing last night, Grizaffi assured transportation workers in the audience that they would likely find jobs with any private company the district may hire.
“If the decision is made (to outsource), probably 95 percent would come back to work,” Grizaffi said. “Why would (a private company) not want to hire 250 experienced employees?”
James Canady, president of the local AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees ), seemed to find little comfort in Grizaffi’s statements. He urged board members to exercise caution when making decisions that will affect the safety and well-being of all students in the district.
Canady said many of Valley View’s bus drivers have worked in the profession for up to 20 years and have proven their worth. But he fears the quality of drivers will “falter” if the school district hires a company whose main concern is profit, rather than safety.
“You start compromising the type of people you get,” Canady said. “I am very, very, very concerned with safety. Just look at our record. We are professional drivers.”
He also cautioned school officials to weigh the impact outsourcing would have on the quality transportation system the district has built up over the years.
“You will tear this system apart,” Canady said. “A majority of our drivers live in the community — and we always hear from teachers and administrators that we are a family. But I feel like a stepchild right now.”
Rich Strom, a Romeoville resident since 1970, urged board members to seek ways to cut the budget other than outsourcing its transportation department.
“We don’t need to be putting our (bus) drivers in the unemployment line,” Strom said.
Strom also expressed concerns about the safety records of private transportation companies. He said he had witnessed several such drivers speeding on Interstate 55 with busloads of students — and had seen ill-maintained buses from those same private companies spewing black smoke behind them.
“It’s like following a crop duster,” Strom said.
After hearing comments from union officials, bus drivers and community members for nearly an hour, board vice president Rick Gougis emphasized that school officials are evaluating transportation costs as one part of the district’s cost-cutting efforts.
“We are going to have to make tough choices,” Gougis said. But, he added, “I am not going to do anything I deem as unsafe or not in students’ best interests.”
“This is just the beginning,” Gougis reassured district transportation employees at the hearing. “We really appreciate what you do.”
Jim Eken
9:52 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Read this to see what a farce private school bussing is in Downers Grove. Seems like money saved on the front end will be lost on lawsuits on later.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-01/news/ct-met-school-bus-problems-0901-20110901_1_bus-routes-school-bus-high-school-district
Annie H.
11:01 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
It was my understanding, from a prior Board meeting when this was first discussed, that the current VVSD drivers would be given the opportunity to present a "bid" along with other private companies and the Board would decide from there. However, I hope the decision is not solely based on money, as we just spent A LOT of money on some computerized program for standardized test tracking. The one area I DO NOT want to see cuts made is in the area of safety, which includes transportation of students.
I will say, however, as someone who lives very near three Romeoville schools, I do see many buses coming to and leaving from the school without a full load. Perhaps one cost-cutting technique could be to cut the number of routes and increase the number of students on each route. I'd hate to see anyone lose their jobs, but perhaps the drivers could work together to have flexible shifts so no one would lose their job.
Hoping wise minds prevail.
Brian Feldt
11:20 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Annie: You're thinking of this line, which I believe still holds true: "Any bid made by a private company would be match able by the AFSCME Local 3057, the union that represents the transportation employees, Grizaffi said."
That's from our original reporting of the story, which can be found here: http://bolingbrook.patch.com/articles/valley-view-to-look-into-outsourcing-bus-drivers
Thanks for the comment and we'll look into making sure that option is still in place.
Joe
11:58 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Peteee363 said "out west, they combine students from the different levels on the low volume routes. so drivers pick up all the kids, then drop off the h.s. students, followed by middle, with elementry dropped off last, they pick them up in reverse order after school, and drop them off"
Fine and dandy but how's that going to work when you have each level of school starting at a different time? Are you going to have Kdg students at the bus stop at 6:30 am when they don't start school until 9?
"
N/A
11:37 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Rick Gougis and Steve Quigley are hilarious, claiming to care about the school district. If they truly cared, they would not have accepted $16k from the teachers' union, they will not push thru multi-year guaranteed raises, or pension "pick-ups" come the new round of teacher negotiations.
If they really wanted to close the budget deficit, they would cut deeply into the top-heavy adminstrator pay.
It seems a++ backwards to risk the kids safety. Maybe AFSCME should have donated heavily to "The Friends of Valley View".
Joe
11:45 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
How many board members have a direct contection to teachers in the district? Two that I know of. Jim Curran - wife is employed as a teacher and Liz Campbell -was a substitute teacher.
N/A
11:51 am on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Which will make the new round of teachers' union negotiations this year even more interesting. The Number Crunchers will be closely monitoring every vote.
Hopefully, the community will pay more attention as well.
tom
9:50 pm on Tuesday, October 25, 2011
What a great idea petee363. We can have 1st graders sitting on a bus for 3 hours every day while they go to two other schools.
tom
6:54 am on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
peteee363
The elementary school students would be sitting on a bus a least 3 hours a day with your plan. Let's say that high school starts at 7. In order to get the students picked up and there on time, depending on how far they live from the school, the students would be picked up from 6:15-6:40. After they drop off those students, they're on their was to middle school for a start time of 7:30. From there they go to elementary school where they start at 8. That would be at least 1 1/2 hours on the bus before they even get to class. Now reverese the process for the ride home and they're sitting on the bus at least another 1 1/2 hours. So yes, they would be on the bus 3 hours a day.
tom
9:10 am on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
peteee363,
You now agree that the 3 hour estimate was correct. You also said that your plan would save all of the jobs. In reality, it wouldn't. As it is now, bus drives routes overlap resulting in the need for more staff.
One idea I have would be to eliminate the free transportation that VVSD provides to the Catholic schools in the area. A second would be that we could make the activity buses a fee for use service.
FYI- VVSD doesn't own the buses. They are leased with all of the leases set to expire this year.
Secondly, VVSD doesn't own the buses, they lease them.
tom
9:53 am on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
peteee363,
Your numbers aren't adding up. If the high school would start at 7 and the elementary school didn't start until 60 minutes later,how could the students be on the bus less than 1 hour?
I'm quite surprised that you think that it's OK to use taxpayer funding to support a religious school. Your reasoning is that you say that they pay taxes to the district. While some do, others do not. I'm not sure if they still do this or not, but at least a few years ago a bus would go to the strip mall at Weber and Rodeo Dr. They would pick up the students that go to St Dominic but live in Dist 202. You also rationalized this by saying VVSD students are reading under 50% of grade level. I'm not sure where you got that from but according to the IIRC, There are sub-groups that are below 50% but as a whole, they are at 70.5%. http://iirc.niu.edu/District.aspx?source=AYP_Information&source2=AYP_Report&districtID=56099365U26&level=D
What do you think about the fee for use for activity buses?
tom
10:44 am on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
peteee363,
You assume that the students getting bus service to Catholic schools in our district would need a bus if they went to public school. That assumption is not accurate. Studentst that live within 1 1/2 miles of the school do not qualify for bus service. So, while they may be "walkers" to their "home" school, the are riding a bus to a parhocial school. We charge VVSD students $500 a year if they want a bus but live in walking distance.
You also said that the students going to VVSD school are "getting no benefit from the school". If that's the case, explain why the majority of students are meeting or exceeding the standards.
I never said that my suggestions were the be all, end all but they are a start. You're idea is to have 6 year olds sitting on a bus for 3 hours. Is that going to save the district $3.6 million?
tom
12:27 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
peteee363,
I would guess that there are probably some students that walk to St Dominic school that would qualify for a bus to their home school but considering that it is about 1/2 mile from Tibbott and BJ Ward, it's likely that they would be walkers to those schools as well.
Did you look at the link that I gave you? If so, you would see that the subgroups that scored below 50% are LEP student and students with a disability. To assume that they are getting nothing out of their education is ridiculous. These are also the students that would probably not be accepted by a Catholic school because of their special needs.
You want to talk about property tax refunds. What about all the seniors or people that never had children? Do they get a refund of their property taxes under your plan?
tom
1:20 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
peteee363,
I thought that this was about VVSD outsourcing bus service. Now you're changing it to vouchers. You also keep saying that students are learning but yet the majority of students tested are meeting or exceeding standards.
FYI- the people that live within 1 1/2 miles of school still pay property taxes to the school district but many choose to drive their children to/from school for safety reasons. According to you, they should get a compensated by the taxpayers of the school district for a personal choice that they made.
jaskie1505
8:42 am on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
When I was in high school, many of the kids who were coming in from the "country" road the bus for an hour and a half or more. When asked what the did on the bus during that time, they studied, especially if they had a test coming up that day. The only thing i would change is reverse the order of pick up and drop off. Most teens will utilize the time to catch up on their sleep. But, we could also start a volunteer group of Bus Tutors, who ride the bus, going and coming, and help those students who need additional help along the way.
jaskie1505
10:30 am on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Meant to "by reading"
Lettuce
10:42 am on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
I think Pete owns a private bus company.
tom
12:35 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
petee363,
What other suggestion do you have besides having elementary age students sit on a bus 3 hours a day?
How do you know that the current employes wouldn't be hired by a new company. According to another article 95-97% would be.
tom
1:26 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
peteee363,
I never said that a private company wouldn't know what it was doing.
The rest of the reply is just gibberish.
tom
4:25 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
peteee363,
"Per state law, though, those employees would have to be interviewed by the contracted company and nearly all would be brought back, Grizaffi said. "
Shannon Antinori
1:17 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Just a reminder: While an exchange of opinions is certainly appreciated, please remember to share your thoughts without insulting other users. This goes for everyone. Insults add nothing to the discussion.
Shannon Antinori
4:15 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
I appreciate the exchange of ideas, but I have removed several comments that pertained only to other users (i.e., personal attacks, which are a violation of our terms of use) and had nothing to do with the topic.
Annie H.
5:48 pm on Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wow! Thanks, Shannon, for your comment. I try to read many of the comment pages on various articles here but I'm continuously amazed by the way in which "adults" talk to each other here. If we ever wonder why our youth seem disrespectful, perhaps we need look no further than some internet chats.
I am all for the free exchange of ideas but let it be that - ideas, not insults, derogatory comments, etc. Those things just lead me to dismiss your comments as having no credibility.
The ideas some have brought up here are worth thinking about but, again, when added to negative comments, it makes it difficult for me, or anyone, to take seriously.
As for the idea of having all grade levels on the same bus, I would vote against something like that. School start times now are: h.s. - 7:30a; m.s. - 8:25a; elem - 9:05a. So, an elementary student could potentially be on the bus from 6:30a-8:45a...that's a long time for a little child.
I know there can be an answer to solves all the issues but I think everyone needs to think outside the box and be willing to compromise - not the mindset of most "leaders" today, sadly.
Warren
1:01 pm on Thursday, October 27, 2011
I wasn't aware that VVSD provides bus service to catholic school in our area. I think that should be an area that we need to reevaluate. Mr Quigley's sons go to one of the schools so it would only seem fair that he should recuse himself from any discussions or voting on the matter.
mml711
1:55 pm on Wednesday, November 2, 2011
I work for a local school district that recently outsourced it's transportation department to save money. The district had very specific requests for the companies that submitted bids, (1) all drivers that wanted a job with this company had to be offered a job, (2) drivers had to be hired at their same rate of pay, (3) benefits had to be offered to all drivers, (4) drivers had to be kept on our school districts routes. All 4 items where submitted on the bids and the lowest bidder took the contract. VVSD can make specific requests for this bid, but have they taken the time with this bid? The union is only looking to keep their dues, do they really even care about the employee?
mml711
2:04 pm on Wednesday, November 2, 2011
FYI - All Illinois Bus Drivers has to comply with a yearly physical, yearly renewal of driving permit and yearly bus training through their local regional office of education.
Cedra Crenshaw
4:58 pm on Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The Number Crunchers Bolingbrook website has two compelling articles about First Student Corporation, one of the private companies being considered for transportation outsourcing.
Allegedly, First Student's contract was terminated several years ago because of poor service. A family shares their shocking story of how their non-verbal autistic daughter was left on a bus for several hours at the bus barn while they frantically tried to locate her.
If this is in fact true, I question why the district is even considering a bid from First Student.
The district estimates savings of $855k/year if transportation is outsourced.
The Illinois Policy Institute (http://illinoispolicy.org/uploads/files/teacherpensions10-13.pdf) estimated that the district spent $8.4 million in 2010 to pay the teacher portion of pension contributions...10 times the estimated savings from outsourcing transportation.
I hope this board seriously considers ending the taxpayer giveaways like funding the teacher portion of pension contributions, so that we don't have to contemplate risking student safety.
See Teacher Pensions: Who's Really Paying? http://illinoispolicy.org/uploads/files/teacherpensions10-13.pdf
Candice W
5:04 pm on Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Cedra - This has been going on for years, why did you not speak out against the pensions prior to this year? Could it have anything to do with your husbands recent retirement as a teacher?
Cedra Crenshaw
5:20 pm on Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Candice W, I know that out of control teacher union leaders are trying to minimize the reality of this report: Teacher Pensions: Who's Really Paying? http://illinoispolicy.org/uploads/files/teacherpensions10-13.pdf
But the facts are clear. VVSD spent an estimated $8.4 million in 2010 to pay the teacher portion of pension contributions...10 times the estimated savings from outsourcing transportation.
If VVSD is to balance future budgets, everything needs to be on the table, and that includes the teacher portion of pension contributions which teachers should be paying, not district taxpayers.
Could you be making things up about my husband in an act of desperation?
Burt
7:04 pm on Sunday, November 6, 2011
Maybe some teachers became teachers because of the benefits. They chose there career you chose yours.
Candice W
5:23 pm on Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Could it be that you are avoiding the questions about your husband to hide hypocrisy?
Burt
7:17 pm on Sunday, November 6, 2011
Just wait an you all will see why they want to cut transportation. That 1 million in saving is nothing compared to the new cost that are coming. Just remember construction is NOT cheap!!!!