Driven to distraction

Bless our school bus drivers.

The men and women at the wheel of those buses aren't just drivers. Many of them are retired professionals; most are parents and grandparents; all, we have no doubt, care deeply about the children whose safe transport to and from school is more a moral obligation than a mere job.

Bless 'em, one and all.

But understanding that we have dozens of great, devoted school bus drivers only adds to the list of considerations Coeur d'Alene School District trustees will face in the weeks ahead, as the process begins to assess the pros and cons of outsourcing district transportation. And the process really is just beginning. Concerns that the decision has already been made to sell all the buses, fire all the bus drivers and hand over this big responsibility to an out-of-state company are completely unfounded. The issue isn't even on tomorrow night's school board agenda. Let's back up for just a moment and put the issue in neutral.

School districts' greatest responsibility is educating your children. In these days of serious budget issues, delivering the best possible education must remain the highest priority. We feel certain our passionate bus drivers would agree with that statement.

The district's trustees would not be doing their jobs to provide the best education possible for the least amount of money if they simply accepted the fact that the current transportation model is the only one that should be considered. Instead, trustees should, with the help of administration, weigh all the benefits of the current system versus the possibility of turning transportation over to a private company. That's going to take time and serious research.

The district hasn't even sent out requests for proposals from private companies yet, so there isn't any data to compare. Part of the research and data gathering will include mandatory site visits, district officials have said.

Drivers and their supporters have every right to stand up and speak at tomorrow's meeting, as they've said they'll do. Their passion will be apparent and their insights appreciated. But no matter how the drivers feel about the issue, school board members will do their due diligence and, at some point fairly soon, decide which model best fits the district's needs and its priorities. Driving a hard bargain for the best education is their job.