Last-minute conversation about the Hamilton County Board of Education’s bus service contract and janitorial contract last week points up again that our school system’s central office has been asleep at the wheel for some time.
There has been significant conversation since the deadly Woodmore Elementary School bus crash in November that the school district should consider hiring a new bus contractor for the coming school year.
But on Wednesday Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Lee McDade told board members that likely won’t be possible. Despite the fact that a contract with Durham School Services expires in 2017, it may be “too late” to change course because choosing another bus service would require a months-long process and request for proposals – all of which would be difficult to finish in time for the next school year.
While it’s true that the tragic bus accident happened only about a month ago, surely school administrators have a calendar and should have given a thought or two some six months or a year ago that exploring new bids might be in order, if for no other reason than to ensure they were still getting a good service and bang for taxpayers’ bucks.
Instead, McDade told school board members that Durham, which signed a four-year contract with Hamilton County in 2013, is willing to accept a one-year contract in the wake of the crash. The company also has pledged some dramatic strides in student safety since the accident.