BUSING: The facts

It is unfortunate that people write letters to the editor without checking the facts. I’m referring to the letter printed on Sept. 20 by Keith Hawkins in reference to contract busing.

It is possible, but not probable that the school district might have saved some money in the first year of the contract. It is possible because contract busing companies typically come in with a low ball bid that quickly changes in the following years. All of the “hidden” costs of operating the routes quickly come to light and the succeeding years turn out to be far more costly than when the busing was done in-house by the school district. But by then it is impossible for the district to buy back buses and start over again. They have burned their bridges. If Mr. Hawkins had checked the facts he would have found out that the Coeur d’Alene School District operates on a lower cost per student mile than any of the other school districts in the state that have gone to contract busing. That speaks for itself.

It is true that the current bus drivers were opposed to contract busing and made their opposition known. But that was after they studied carefully the results around the state where districts had gone to contract busing and after they had heard the horror stories from contract bus drivers across the nation and after they carefully read the multitude of studies that have been done by reputable researchers who have spent many hours researching the calamitous results of going to contract busing. Not going to contract busing is a no-brainer if you check the facts.

In almost every area where districts have gone to contract busing, there have been labor disputes that ended up being extremely costly to the district. This, along with the fact that with contract busing the district is still held responsible for getting the students to school safely without being in control of the process puts them in a very tenuous position. The disruption and turnover of drivers that would have come with contract busing would not have been a healthy move or one that would have instilled trust and confidence in our school leaders.

I applaud the school board and Mr. Wardell for doing the prudent thing after looking at all sides of the contract busing issue. They have put the safety of our children and the health of our community ahead of questionable promises of saved revenue and they have done the wise thing in spite of possible criticism. I respect them for the difficult decision they made.

BOB SCHNEITER

Hayden Lake