Alcohol incident has Dist. 57 considering outside busing

A Mount Prospect elementary district is considering outsourcing its bus services less than a month after one of its bus drivers was arrested on drunken driving charges.

District 57 school board members backed spending about $12,500 on an evaluation of the district's transportation system at a committee meeting on Thursday. The evaluation should take about 30 days, said Superintendent Elaine Aumiller.

"In the last two districts I worked for, both transportation systems were outsourced," she said. "There was never a downside. I can't think of a single downside. In light of what's happened recently, I suggest we move quickly."

Outsourcing could save the district more than $160,000, but it may also force changes in some schools' start and end times, Aumiller said.

In addition, hiring an outside company to handle the district's buses doesn't mean current District 57 bus drivers would be fired, she said.

"Local companies told us the first thing they would do is hire our bus drivers," Aumiller said. "They might even lease our buses because they'll need to expand their fleet."

The school board backed only conducting the evaluation on Thursday. If the board votes to outsource District 57's transportation for the 2010-11 year, a vote would come before the end of this school year.

Betty Burden, a former District 57 bus driver, was arrested on March 9 after she drove eight routes. Two weeks after her arrest, the school board fired both Burden and her boss, Transportation Director Vince Ramirez, who allowed Burden to drive despite two different co-workers approaching him and saying they were concerned about Burden's drinking.

Ramirez, who could not be reached this week, said District 57 officials promised to stand by him the day after Burden was arrested.

Burden appeared in court on Thursday.

Her attorney Ernie Blomquist said he "believes strongly" in his client's innocence, describing her as "depressed" and having to endure public responses from people who don't know all the facts. He said she has received hate mail and people have approached her at her home.

Burden's next court date will be April 22.

The District 57 school board also appointed Bill Willetts as the interim transportation coordinator Thursday. Willetts, who will replace Ramirez, worked for Palatine Elementary District 15 the past eight years.