The beginning of the school year saw many buses arriving at school late and students arriving late to class. These buses are from the new company, Krise Transportation, which the Big Spring School District is using this year. Business manager, Cristy Lentz, said that the lateness was not because of the new company, but because of a back-to-school adjustment period.
Lentz said some of these adjustment factors, “include but are not limited to the following: Late student enrollments/enrollment changes, traffic pattern changes, driver learning curve, and family routines.” Schools work to adjust these timing issues during the first few weeks.
Students and parents may not be aware of these issues when waiting at the bus stop. Freshman Chloe Shew, said she had been on a late bus. “When they are late, we either have a different bus driver or they park in the wrong spot, so it takes longer to get into the building.” Parents are concerned about the amount of time students miss in the classroom and have been expressing frustration on social media.
School Districts are governed by many local, state, and federal laws when deciding on a bus company. Lentz said, “A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a tool typically used by school districts to ensure compliance with state procurement laws for securing services such as Transportation, Food Service, etc.” An RFP also provides for a competitive bidding environment to ensure fiscal responsibility with taxpayer money.
After using Deitch buses for many years, the contract expired on June 30, and Big Spring decided to engage in the RFP process for transportation services. This led to the selection of a new vendor. Nationwide, a bus driver shortage is affecting many school districts in the region, and they are feeling the frustration. According to ABC27, the South Middleton School District is operating with seven fewer drivers than last year, representing a nearly 40% reduction in contracted staffing.
According to Lentz, the Big Spring School District is fortunate to have all routes covered, and the majority of our previous vendor’s drivers chose to remain as drivers with the new vendor. “Krise Transportation is continuing to recruit drivers to cover the minimal number of routes currently assigned to Krise administrative or traveling drivers, to obtain substitute drivers, and drivers for extra-curricular events.”
