March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Hermon school board nixes private bus contracts

HERMON — The Hermon School Committee unanimously rejected all three bids that would have privatized its school bus services on Monday night, putting an end to the latest controversial education issue to hit the town.

An eleventh-hour bid by the town’s bus drivers, which included their making more than $18,000 in self-imposed cuts, seemed to be a critical factor in the decision of the voting school board members, who rejected all private bids by a 5-0 count.

Mark Burnett and Debbie CoWallis did not vote because they represent Carmel and Levant, respectively. Those two towns would not have been involved in the transportation process.

“I think [the drivers] made huge concessions to remain employed in Hermon,” said Chairman Bruce Doughty. “I’m proud and I’m pleased. Had they not done that, I think it might have been privatized. But, of course, I’m just one vote.”

The town’s six bus drivers had hashed out an agreement during the day Monday in which they would eliminate all vacation pay, all holiday pay, reduce their insurance coverage by more than $9,000, and not accept any raises for the 1996-97 school year.

When the final figures were added up, Superintendent Gene MacDonald said, keeping the school department in the busing business would cost only $17,000 a year more than the lowest bid.

John T. Cyr & Sons of Old Town had submitted the low bid of $195,000. Laidlaw Transit of Orland submitted a bid of $203,100, while Champion of Maine of Alton submitted a $228,673 bid.

“I have no reservations at all about staying with our current transportation plans,” MacDonald told the board after the vote.

As part of the bid process, MacDonald requested that all drivers be hired by whatever company would be awarded the bid.

Bus driver Frank Smith, who has been employed by the town since 1994, said making the concessions was just something the drivers had to do. For example, he said, if drivers would have gone to work for other companies, they would have received no insurance coverage. Even with their concessions, drivers will be responsible for only half of their insurance coverage.

“A lot of us didn’t want to go to work for a private company,” Smith said. “A little is better than nothing, I guess. We pretty much decided that we were going to get together and say `If it’s a matter of us losing our jobs, then let’s make some concessions.”‘

School board member Peggy Elmer pointed to that type of caring attitude by the bus drivers as a big reason behind her vote to reject the bids.

“Not only did my [daughters] have devoted teachers and principals who knew them and their parents by name, but the bus drivers were their friends, their caring friends,” Elmer said. “When [Elmer’s daughter] Aimee got on the wrong bus by mistake in first grade, the bus driver knew where she had moved to during the summer and brought her home after his run. In today’s society … our kids need all the friends they can get.”

Adding to the controversy were the roles of Town Council Chairwoman Sandra Brackett and John Maynard, two town councilors who issued propaganda that seemed to be in support of privatizing the bus services.

One resident attending Monday’s meeting complained that somebody had delivered their message by putting it into her mailbox, which is a federal offense unless it is sent through the mail.

Maynard defended his actions Monday, saying, “We just wanted to make sure the public had all the information. I have no problem with the school committee voting that the drivers could keep their jobs.”

“Everybody gets involved, especially when it comes to education,” Doughty said. “They care about education. That’s part of the reason why I love this town.”


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