Batavia schools’ busing woes resolved, superintendent says
The school year got off to a rocky start for Batavia students who ride school buses.
School Superintendent Jack Barshinger said Wednesday the district has recovered.
After-school buses were running up to 40 minutes late, he said, as drivers got used to new routes and routes were changed. “We always run late the first couple of days of school,” Barshinger said. The problem was compounded by the district’s hiring of a different firm to supply busing, which meant many of the drivers hadn’t worked in Batavia before.
By Wednesday, the district was down to one late route in the morning, which was due to a mechanical breakdown, and three late routes in the afternoon. Those routes were fewer than 10 minutes late, he said.
“We went to a new vendor because of performance issues and safety,” Barshinger said.
Special education busing had its own set of problems, as some of the buses didn’t have the proper equipment, such as harnesses, for individual students’ needs. “That wasn’t very well communicated,” Barshinger said.
It was aggravated by the fact Batavia is keeping more of its special education students in district this year.
Fifty-three percent of the district’s students, or 3,318, qualify for busing or pay for busing.
High school routes are done first, followed by middle school routes, then the elementary school routes.
The district dropped First Student, a nationwide bus company based in Ohio, with one year to go in its contract, saying it had failed to “promptly deliver all students in a safe and efficient manner,” according to a memo on the subject.
Illinois Central School Bus, based in Joliet, was hired for regular transportation for three years. The first year costs $1.24 million; there are 2.5 percent increases the next two years.
It also hired Illinois Central for special education busing.