Kaleva Norman Dickson now taking bids
At the Kaleva Norman Dickson school district in Manistee County, the school board has voted to accept bids on turning bussing over to a private company. But the bus drivers and their union leaders are voicing their concerns, and the superintendent is answering questions about the state of the school budget.
Superintendent Mike Matesich says, "We've got a lot of expenses coming at the district with very little funding coming in." The Superintendent says the district could have to cut another half million dollars from next year's budget. One way to save money could be to privatize bus service.
But union leaders who represent those drivers say they're surprised by this month's school board vote to move forward with the idea and solicit bids. Karen Kolb is with the Michigan Education Association and represents KND support staff including bus drivers."We were very surprised by it by it, we've been bargaining a contract with the District, we're in our second year of bargaining that contract. Over that time the Superintendent has mentioned the district was going, or maybe looking at privatization. They don't have to give us notice that they're going to request (the bids) but it certainly would have been a professional courtesy and a personal courtesy on their part to us."
But Superintendent Mike Matesich says the issue should have been no surprise. "It's been discussed in negotiations as I mentioned. This came up last year in the ad hoc committee, it came up at the general meeting, it's come up at three board meetings in a row. So I'm not sure how they would "not" know about it."
The school bus drivers and the union leaders say the school district agreed to some of these benefits through contract negotiations over the years. And they say even though driving is a part time job, the schedule makes it hard to find a full time job with benefits anywhere else. Kolb says, "when you have employees that have to be on the road at 6 in the morning and done by 8:30, and have to be back at the district by 2:00 and aren't done until 5:30, the break in the day is such that they can't get employment anyplace else."
The superintendent argues "we feel we pay them very well, more than any of the other school districts in the immediate area.But the district can no longer be able to afford support staff - especially part time support staff - full benefits. We just can't financially do it any longer."
The school district is taking bids for privatizing the bus service, and will review those bids at next week's school board meeting. But the superintendent says right now, no final decision has been made. He also says, even if the district chooses to privatize, they'd still like to keep the same bus drivers and there's no talk of changing their pay. The school board plans to meet next week with bus drivers before the next scheduled school board meeting.
