Updated Transportation Information
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| Dear Parents of Brandon Students, This communication is being sent with updated information about the district’s discussion of transportation for the 2018-19 school year. Through the links provided to families and the community, the district has been responding to questions on the topic. Attached to this message, you will find a 1 page summary of key information as well as the most up-to-date FAQ’s and information. You can also find this information on the district’s website. On another topic, there are a few rumors that are floating around that need to be addressed. Here are a few: 1. The board of education’s decision is about “outsourcing” – FALSE – Brandon made the decision to outsource in 2011. The decision is whether to continue to outsource to a payroll company (EduStaff) or to outsource to a transportation company (First Student) for considerable savings. 2. “Our current drivers are losing their jobs” – FALSE – Every driver and mechanic in good standing would be offered a job. All would get pay raises, benefits for those that currently have them, paid holidays, 401k with matching, signing bonuses, free training and more. 3. “Drivers would not be locals” – TRUE and FALSE - Currently, 6 of our 16 Teamster members live in the Ortonville-Brandon area with the others living in surrounding areas. It would be an extremely high priority for First Student to retain as many of our current department members as possible. This is why they offer higher wages, benefits, signing bonuses and more. 4. First Student won’t go on certain roads that we go on now and parents are referred to other districts with questions – FALSE – First Student would cover all of the same roads that are currently covered. Also, Brandon would have its own department and all parent communication would be local. These would all be part of the contract in the case that First Student was chosen. 5. Brandon doesn’t need to make reductions – FALSE - Brandon is reducing expenditures by $1,121,757 for the 2018-19 school year. More expenditure reductions are going to be needed for the next several years due to less students, rising employee costs and the need to invest more in our children in order to remain competitive. Furthermore, the district has had to set money aside to cover portions of the millions in current and anticipated facility costs that the district must address in the near future. 6. Parents are all against this – FALSE – The district serves more than 2,600 students with more than 4,000 parents. While there are some parents that are more vocal than others, many parents support the option of outsourcing to a transportation company (First Students) instead of outsourcing to a payroll company (EduStaff). The importance of the savings, the expectation that the district must continue to invest in students, the need to continue to invest in our teachers and parent references from other First Student districts (Troy, Linden, Lake Fenton…) are a few of the areas of focus of those that support the change. If you would like additional information on this topic, please refer to the documents provided or submit a question on the following parent link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BrandonBusesParents. These documents will continue to be updated as questions are submitted. Thank you for your time. The Brandon School District |
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