The school bus shortage in Utica that is wearing parents down was made even worse last week, when 13 bus drivers who walked out of their jobs at Durham School Services were promptly fired by the company.
After a school board meeting Tuesday night, Superintendent Bruce Karam announced he was reaching out to Gov. Kathy Hochul to call on the Army National Guard for help in transporting students.
Amid the shortage, some parents say the dismissed drivers should be hired back.
Jasna Ferkic says getting her kids to school every morning at Utica Academy of Science is a struggle.
What You Need To Know
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- Bus drivers at the district are down by 50%
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- The superintendent sent letter to Gov. Hochul for temporary help in form of the Army National Guard
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- 13 drivers walked out last week and were terminated
- Durham School Services says they won’t be rehired
“I drop my kids off at about 8:40 in the morning, school starts at 8:45. I worked it out with my management where I am actually on my lunch hour right now. I start my work at 8 o’clock, and I take my lunch to take my kids to school. My whole life has been turned upside down, including many of other parents,” said Ferkic, a parent in the district.
She says the charter school partners with other school districts to provide busing. But she says buses from Durham School Services, the company used by the Utica City School District, are not always on time.
“The buses do not arrive here until about 10 in the morning and school starts at 8:45,” Ferkic said.
The bus service terminated 13 drivers last week because they walked out, citing a poor work environment and bonuses they had not yet received.
“I believe they should be hired back. Right now, we are operating in code red. This is no laughing matter, this is no time to fight with each other or argue,” Ferkic said.
Karam said he asked the governor for assistance because of the emergency situation.
“We’re down 50 percent. I know the drivers, well at least Durham, Durham bus company. They’re having difficulty, obviously, picking up kids, dropping kids off on time, but the bus drivers that they do have, have to run multiple routes. So, it was just something to try to see if we could get any help, if it was possible,” Karam said.
Tina Silano, the parent of a 12-year-old who attends John F. Kennedy Middle School in Utica, said, “What’s the National Guard going to know how to do? They know how to drive tanks. They know how to do this and that. Do they know how to drive a school bus? I don’t think so.”
Silano’s son has special needs due to his severe asthma.
“His first class starts at 7:45. He has to be there by 7:40 so he’s there for 7:45. They never showed up at all or told me what was picking my son up at all. It doesn’t help to not know if he has a bus or a van that’s picking him up.”
Silano says the bus drivers should be hired back because they are already familiar with the routes.
Karam said that Durham is a private company that hires and recruits their own bus drivers, not employees of the Utica City School District. So it’s up to the vendor to provide the bus drivers for the service, he said.
Durham School Services says it does not plan on rehiring the drivers who walked away from their jobs, and have over 50 candidates in the pipeline working toward becoming bus drivers for Utica schools.
Parents are telling me that the bus shortage in Utica has gotten worse and it’s a struggle to get their kids to school on time. They say the bus drivers who walked out last week and were terminated for it need to be hired back, more from the parents on @SPECNews1CNY
— Shalon Stevens (@shalonstevenstv) October 21, 2021
