The Number Crunchers do not have an opinion as to whether the outsourcing to a 3rd party is best for the district. We are in the process of doing some research of our own.
In efforts to encourage more resident participation, we've decided to share with you the list of questions we plan on asking the District. The answers will help to determine whether or not the outsourcing is best for Bolingbrook.
We've got until December 12, 2011 to get answers to 10 important questions.
Click link to read entire article, and view list of questions. http://thenumbercrunchers-bolingbrook.com/home.html
The floor's open. Tell us what you think.
Will VVSD 365U continue to provide bus transportation to and from St Andrew and St Dominic schools?
ReplyDeleteIf so, what is the cost to the district for this service?
Is the transportation free or do they pay $500 per student like the district charges for students that don't qualify for bus transportation to district schools?
No decision has been made to out source the transportaton yet. The school board is suppose to make the decision on December 12 or after.
ReplyDeleteIn the Bugle they mention that this was just a request for pricing from several companies. Per the Bugle there was no action taken yet.
When did they approve this? The bus driver that I spoke with this morning knew nothing about it being approve. She said that there's a hold up because of out of district placements for some of the special ed students.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, All:
ReplyDeleteThere's been no "official" approval by the board to outsource labor. Although the majority of the board strongly favors the idea. The final decision will be made on December 12, 2011.
The only way to know if outsourcing is best for the community is to get answers to the 10 questions highlighted in the article.
Also note, we have spoken with a Bolingbrook family who's child was left on the bus by First Student Corporation several years ago. (the article will be published today)
Maybe outsourcing our bus service is not the best idea after all. Lets dig into the questions, do some homework first.
Well I see this as a bad idea. When my autistic non-verbal daughetr was left on a first student bus for over two hours and they, at first student bus service, had no idea where she or the bus was, and let me say the woman that answered the phone at first student hung up twice stating "she would not put up with our bad attitude" and "we were acking silly over this" she was sure it was no big deal. This is not how you calm a mother who has no idea where her 4 year old autistic daughter is. The bus service had no plan of action or no steps in place for what I think was an "emergency". The plan in action was we called valley view they said oh you must call first student we do not handle them first student said we do not have any idea how to find a bus or driver we cant reach the driver by radio call valley view we called valley view they put us on hold to find out who would handle a bussing question (valley view school district handeled it much better)....this took place over a 15 minute time span. while standing in the street in front of my house over 2 hours later waiting for anyone in the world to feel my pain the bus rolled up......the driver explained he had gotten back to the hub and was leaving for the weekend and heard a noise(my non verbal autistic daughter I think) then saw her and headed back to bolingbrook never contacting us or the hub. The same time period of that week or about a week before the daughter of one of the valley view board members was left on the bus for a long enuff time that the police were called and it was never stated that this event even happened. (to the best of my knowledge)
ReplyDeleteI do NOT think this move "backward" to save money is a good one
http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/Local-12-Investigation-Into-First-Student-Bus/7ks9PD8vPkiwgKTZPUEckw.cspx
ReplyDeletehttp://mydd.com/users/teamsters/posts/school-bus-safety-shouldnt-go-to-the-lowest-bidder
http://www.wthr.com/story/8896350/state-police-seek-criminal-charges-for-more-school-bus-safety-violations
Sorry to hear that happened to your child Bill. That's terrible.
ReplyDeleteThe service is only as good as the employee working.
ReplyDeleteI've heard horror stories of special needs children being verbal abused, restrained and injured while riding the bus to and from school on VVSD buses and with VVSD drivers and monitors.
Sadly, it happens and when it does, it's usually the most vulnerable students. The ones with special needs. Many of which have problems communicating.
There are videos on the bus but when a parent asks to see them, they're told that they can't because it will violate the rights of the others on the bus.
Makes you wonder what is going on that they don't want you to see now doesn't it?!
This article highlights why it will be imperative for the district to get its financial house in order.
ReplyDeleteNo students' safety should be put in jeopardy.
The district is considering a bid from First Student, a company that jeopardized student safety to save an estimated $855k/year, while the Illinois Policy Institute estimates that the district paid $8.4 million in 2010 for the teacher portion of pension contributions...10 times the amount of proposed savings from transportation outsourcing.
See the report, Teacher Pensions, Who's Really Paying? http://illinoispolicy.org/uploads/files/teacherpensions10-13.pdf
The Davidek's experience is horrifying for any parent. I question why the board is even considering a bid from a company as incompetent as First Student.
Cedra,
ReplyDeleteYou keep harping on the teacher pension. It's really a non-issue. The teachers have TRS deducted from their checks every pay period. If it would make you happy, let's just give them a raise and be done with it.
What do you have to say to the parents of the students that have been restrained and verbally abused by VVSD bus staff? Or the ones that were told by district staff that they can't look at the video on the bus?
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteTeacher Pensions, Who's Really Paying? http://illinoispolicy.org/uploads/files/teacherpensions10-13.pdf
is not a "non-issue". An estimated $8.4 million paid by VVSD taxpayers for the teacher portion of pension contributions in 2010, just one year, is not a "non-issue", unless of course you are an out of control teacher union leader or politically bankrupt school board member.
It's not about making me happy. It's about what's fair...you know...fair share...teachers need to pay their fair share, so that students can get what they need to be successful in the classroom.
What do you have to say to parents like the Davideks that were terrorized by the incompetence of First Student Corp?
I'm not saying that another private company couldn't possibly do the job, but First Student shouldn't even be considered for the job.
Cedra,
ReplyDeleteFYI, the taxpayers are paying 100% of ALL teacher pensions, including your husband's, because they pay the salary of teachers.