In a budget driven move, the Kingsley School board voted Monday night to outsource and privatize some services. The school district had been looking at ways to trim more than $500,000 from its budget in order to make up for a decrease in state funding and school enrollment.

In a 6-1 vote, the board voted to hand over custodial services to CMS. In a 7-0 vote, the school accepted a bid from the Traverse City Area Public Schools to take over busing. That move will mean 13 Kingsley bus drivers will be laid off. The school board hoped that the drivers will be hired by TCAPS to drive their routes they currently do, but there are no guarantees that the drivers will be hired. Its also a move that would likely mean a pay decrease for those drivers.

Kingsley Schools is also looking at possibly privatizing lunch services, but final bid numbers are not in and so no decision has been made yet whether to proceed with that motion.