Local school committee weighs in on future bus transportation option

WEYMOUTH, Mass. — The school committee is weighing the district’s options choosing future bus transportation.

Current bus drivers and parents lined up outside of the Abigail Adams School in Weymouth ahead of the school committee meeting about the future of the district’s transportation.

“Drivers that have been here forever, you know, I want to make sure they have jobs next year,” Marion Yablonsky, a long-time bus driver, said.

For the first time in years, there are two bids to bus students to and from school.

“Well, school buses, when you really stop to think about it, it’s the beginning and the end of every kid’s school day. They leave their house, they leave their parents, they leave the safety of their home...the school is supposed to be a safe place for them, and buses are an extension of the school,” Steve Hillson said as a concerned parent.

Weymouth’s bus drivers are employed by First Student, and the company they are now up against is NRT.

“Having been a bus driver for so long, I know the parents, I know the kids. Getting all new drivers would be horrible, just horrible.” Yablonsky explained.

The school committee says NRT’s offer would save the district a lot of money over the course of the contract.

“Over the five year contract, it was a difference of 1 point 5 million,” one committee member said.

Some are raising concerns about NRT’s history as well as safety and the students’ overall well-being.

“Many of us are deeply concerned about what our future, and what the future for Weymouth would look like working for NRT. Based off what we have heard, we would not feel comfortable continuing, and a lot of us would most likely just leave,” one bus driver said.

“I’m the school nurse at St. Francis, and you talk about community and safety and caring and compassion, they know all my kids, they know all my kids, and to me that’s priceless,” a school nurse added.

While the school committee says choosing the next five-year contract comes with a strict legal process, they are also promising to go beyond that.

“We are conducting a more extensive than usual review.”

Many now hoping if NRT does drive away with the new contract, they will honor everything these bus drivers have worked so hard for.

“If NRT does take over the contract, who is to say that they will have their same wages, same benefits, their same security and seniorities. They could lose everything overnight,” Michelle Majchrowicz of Local Teamsters 653 said on behalf of the drivers.

Saving money aside, the school committee says safety is the top priority, and all buses would still have to be five years old or less and must continue to be equipped with cameras that record both video and audio.

Officials also thanked the current school bus drivers.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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