Barnum chooses to keep its busing fleet

A potential busing overhaul in Barnum ended last week, with board members choosing to keep its buses and bus drivers.

The board had explored selling its fleet of buses and contracting with a private company for transportation services, after a shortage of school bus drivers caused a rash of parent complaints as children had to spend hours on longer routes and parents had to find other transportation because there were no substitute drivers.

In exploring its options, the Barnum school board had posted two bids, one for bids on its buses, another for quotations for bus transportation services.

At the school board meeting March 18, the board unanimously denied all the bids.

“My recommendation to reject all bids was due to the financial impact it would have on the district,” said superintendent Bill Peel, who divides his superintendent services between Barnum and Willow River school districts. “We could not afford it.”

Also March 18, board members retroactively approved the termination of the shared services agreement between Barnum and Willow River public schools for a shared transportation supervisor, effective Feb. 15, because the shared supervisor resigned. “We had to make it official,” Peel said.

As part of the same consent agenda vote — which generally passes without discussion — the board approved a job description for a new combined transportation supervisor and mechanic position.

Things have gotten much better since last summer, when Barnum was down to three bus drivers for eight routes. At the start of the school year, there were four. Now, the district has six regular drivers and two substitute drivers, with more on the horizon.

“We did hire another regular-

route driver and have another teacher/coach in training to become a driver,” Peel said. “We continue to advertise for substitute drivers. We are hoping to make seven regular routes work for the district.”

Had the district chosen to contract for private bus services, drivers likely would have lost their union pensions and other contract provisions. Instead, they got a pay raise and kept a job they enjoyed.

“We’re all doing it for the same reasons,” said veteran bus driver Bobby Kisler at the January Barnum board meeting. “It’s not for the money, because it’s not great pay, but we enjoy the kids. We enjoy saying good morning to them, asking how their day was, saying good night. And we’ve got good benefits here: sick pay, a couple personal days, insurance and a good pension. That’s a huge deal.”

Barnum wasn’t alone in its lack of drivers this year. Cloquet and Esko started school short

on drivers as well, with both adjusting routes to cover all

their riders.

“Transportation of students is difficult,” Peel said, addressing the broader issue. “Lack of drivers and rise in costs for everything makes it hard for a district. The price of fuel, parts, buses, repairs, salaries, and benefits continue to increase, and districts don’t receive enough funding to keep up.”