School Board approves privatization of five bus runs
Agreement with CSEA guarantees transportation employees will retain contracted runs for remainder of school year

POSTED: NOVEMBER 7, 2009

The Port Jervis School District Board of Education ratified a negotiated agreement between the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) and the Port Jervis School District on Nov. 6 that will allow the district to request bids from private bus companies for a minimum of five of its transportation runs.

The agreement, which is effective immediately, guarantees every transportation employee on the payroll on October 8, 2008, will retain his or her contracted bus run for the remainder of the school year. Current transportation employees who are on a long-term leave of absence are guaranteed their current number of hours if they return to work this school year. The agreement also stipulates that no current transportation employees will be laid off during the 2009-2010 school year as the result of the contracting out of bus runs.

This agreement only pertains to the Transportation Department. It will not affect CSEA employees who work in any other department in the school district.

“The Port Jervis School District is faced with a difficult situation,” said Superintendent John Xanthis. “Part of our responsibility as a school district is to ensure that our students are transported safely to and from school.

Our Transportation Department has struggled for years to overcome multiple obstacles to make sure our students get to school every day. Unfortunately, we are now at the point where the Transportation Department can no longer adequately provide our students with dependable service.”

“Many of our students are being picked up late because we are no longer able to cover all of our bus runs,” says Xanthis. Due to employee absenteeism and long-term leaves, the district is often unable to cover between six to 10 of its daily runs. “We’ve tried our best internally to cover these runs by juggling staff,” explained Xanthis. “But, this won’t resolve the problem. The district needs to take steps to make sure that all of our student bus runs are covered on a daily basis.”

The Port Jervis School District transports approximately 2,500 students to school every day. The buses make two separate runs each day morning and afternoon – one for students in grades 7-12 and one for elementary school students. Additionally, the district provides bus service for athletic and extracurricular events. It has been operating without a transportation facility since its bus garage suffered irreparable damage in the April 2005 flood. The district currently runs its transportation services out of a temporary trailer and leased maintenance bays.

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