“We feel that it could be the best option from an efficiency standpoint and a safety standpoint, to move our students forward,” said Brad Neavin, district superintendent.
The company that Neavin is in negotiations with, on behalf of the district, is First Student, Inc.
The transportation company had an advertisement posted on Careerbuilder.com that said the company was hiring part-time school bus drivers to work at their new Vandalia location, serving Vandalia-Butler City Schools.
“Until the board acts, nothing is official,” Neavin said.
First Student representatives started training Vandalia-Butler’s bus drivers who are seeking employment with them at their garage at Xenia High School this week.
“As part of this (negotiations) process and because of this compressed timeline, they are meeting with our drivers in the event that we are going to move forward with them,” Neavin said on Friday.
Kim Bailey, who has been driving a bus for Vandalia-Butler for 15 years, said she was uneasy when she first heard the news in June that the district might be outsourcing.
“We have been freaking out all summer long, wondering if we were going to have jobs and who is going to take care of our kids (on the bus routes),” Bailey said.
Now that Bailey is participating in First Student’s job application process, she said she feels more at ease.
Vandalia-Butler’s bus drivers have to apply to work for First Student by Monday if they want to be eligible for priority status.
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