by Patricia A. Miller
Central Regional Board of Education members recently agreed to go out to bid for in-district bus routes, Business Administrator Kevin O'Shea said.
"We have been looking at the costs and thought it would be prudent to look at every option available," he said.
District officials have had some preliminary meetings with a company that could outsource labor costs while allowing Central to maintain its bus fleet, O'Shea said.
"At this point, we are looking at all options," he said. "When the bids come in, we will have a better idea of which way we want to go with it."
Central Regional is still in negotiations with the bus drivers' union, Superintendent Triantafillos Parlapanides said.
"We need information on how much it would cost to privatize and the cost from other districts to be able to negotiate a fair deal for drivers and taxpayers," he said.
The news has drawn an angry response from the Central Regional Bus Drivers Association. The union has a petition circulating online here asking that the district stay with in-district drivers.
"We the Undersigned urge the Central Regional BOE to keep the Transportation Employees, reversing its decision to bid for out-of district transportation to bargain with the Bus Drivers in good faith," the petition reads.
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