School District Fires Back over Driver Outsourcing

The Central Bucks School District is expected to post on Friday a more detailed explanation of Tuesday's move to eliminate and outsource the jobs of 37 bus drivers.

The school board voted unanimously on Tuesday , which included the cuts of the 37 drivers and 82 other layoffs.

Superintendent N. Robert Laws said district leaders decided to post the piece to "balance" the information the public is reading elsewhere.

"Our story hasn’t gotten out as to why we're doing this, why this is needed," Laws said Thursday.

Entitled "Why Does CB Want to Contract More Bus Routes?", the piece reads as follows:
 
The Central Bucks School District’s program on student transportation has for many years been comprised of about 30% of the bus routes contracted out and the remaining 70% in-house. Over the years, as healthcare and pension costs increased, it has become more costly for the District to maintain its routes in-house. As a result the District has gradually given more routes to its outside contractor, First Student. Currently the District has approximately 255 bus routes, 163 in-house and 92 contracted. The current collective bargaining agreement permits the District to contract 37 more routes to First Student. The District has elected to do so. Why?
 
Using 2010-2011 data, a CB driver on average has a total hourly cost to the District of $32.78. This is comprised of wages at the rate of $21 per hour, healthcare/prescription at the rate of $10.87 per hour, and retirement at the rate of $.91 per hour. By contrast, a First Student (driver)’s total hourly cost is $20.50 resulting in an hourly differential of $12.28 or an annual differential of nearly $12,000. As staggering as these numbers are, healthcare and pension costs are expected to continue to increase at much higher rates than the District can afford. In short, the District can no longer offer full time benefits to part time workers.
 
Hard choices need to be made due to the District’s significant loss in both local and state revenue. In order to not impact the instructional programs offered to students, the District must look for ways to allocate available resources toward instruction and away from other operations.
 
If there are to be any more routes contracted out to First Student (beyond 37) such a decision will be a matter for negotiations. The transportation collective bargaining agreement expires June 30, 2011.

The threat of outsourcing more drivers' jobs clearly is being used as a chip in the contract bargaining process.

On Tuesday, school board members exhorted the drivers attending the meeting to urge their leadership to bend on contract demands if they want to keep the jobs with the district.

Board president Paul Faulkner said district officials wanted to find a way to keep as many of the remaining runs in-house as possible.

Board member Stephen Corr told the audience to stop blaming the cuts on administrators, specifically Laws.

"It’s not the administrators, it’s not Dr. Laws, it’s the nine people sitting up here," Corr said, gesturing down the table to the other board members. "Tell your leadership to go the table, come with concessions that would make it equal to outsourcing all the runs...We’re losing money year after year, and every year, the state comes and cuts our transportation budget."

Drivers in the audience called out, "meet with us." Some said after the meeting that it is the district that is unwilling to negotiate, not the drivers.

Board member Christopher Asplen said the real reason the drivers want to keep working for the district rather than First Student is because of the health insurance coverage - coverage the taxpayers pay for.

When he tried to explain to his daughter that the district was going to outsource some drivers' jobs, "her immediate response was 'Daddy, you can’t do that." Her driver has a medical condition and relies on the district's health benefits, Asplen said.

"That’s really what this is all about. There are offers of employment for all of you, right?" Asplen said, gesturing to the drivers, and referencing the fact that the district will require First Student to offer the newly contracted bus routes to the laid-off CB drivers.

"No." "Bull****" "At lower wages," drivers in the audience yelled back.

Board member Chuck Baker said that he has been involved in many layoffs.

"No one likes to take someone’s job away. No one likes to take someone’s benefits away," Baker said. "Get your leadership to come forth and meet with us. Sitting in here and yelling back and forth with each other is not going to do it."

Besides the bus drivers, the district also is in negotiations for a new contract with its 1,400 teachers, and recently .