School Boards Scramble to Cover Transportation in Time for Opening
Day

By RACHEL KOVAC

Uncertainty surrounding school transportation ran down to the wire
this week, with a flurry of emergency meetings that resulted in a
patched together plan to carry Vineyard children to school.

Bussing on the first day of school yesterday went without a hitch,
but the untested system - which calls for the school district to
manage bussing itself for six weeks - leaves many unanswered
questions for bus drivers, school leaders and taxpayers.

The decision came late Tuesday night at an emergency meeting of the
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School district committee and the
up-Island regional school committee. Committee members also called for
developing a long-term transportation plan with help from an outside
consultant.

A letter was sent to parents yesterday asking for their cooperation
and patience while the situation is resolved.

Last Friday MV Coachlines abruptly pulled out of its transportation
contract with the Island school district after a heated labor dispute
with bus drivers. Company president Edward W. Pigman said he could not
find enough drivers willing to work for him to fulfill his contract.

On Tuesday, with freshmen needing transportation for orientation the
next day and school officially beginning for all students Thursday, the
school committees had two options - to award the contract to the
tour bus company Island Transport or take on the responsibility
themselves.

On the recommendation of a transportation subcommittee, the two
committees voted 10 to one to hand over management to Vineyard schools
superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss. For their part, the bus drivers
agreed to work for the school for six weeks under the same pay scale and
running the same routes as last year.

"Basically for six weeks we've got to keep things afloat
and create a better system," Mr. Weiss told school committee
members. "There's still a matter of I've got to trust
the drivers and they've got to trust me."

School bus drivers met with Mr. Weiss Tuesday afternoon where he
laid out the situation, telling them there were only two options: work
for the school or school will be delayed.

Mr. Weiss told drivers that after six weeks they would be given a
raise, retroactive to the start of school. He also said he expected them
to be an integral part of the planning process.

"I hope someone [a consultant] will be here next week,"
he said. "It will be no one who has been involved with what has
transpired over the last few years."

School transportation has been unsettled on the Vineyard for the
last several years. The operator Island Transport Inc. had held the
bussing contract for more than 20 years prior to last fall. But heading
into the final year of its five-year contract, a public dispute over
autonomy and finances caused the school district to sever its ties with
the Oak Bluffs company.

Then weeks before the start of school last year, former schools
superintendent Kriner Cash brokered a deal to hire the Vineyard Transit
Authority (VTA) to maintain the buses and MV Coachlines to manage and
operate them.

MV Coachlines was awarded a second, one-year contract this summer.
But in August bus drivers met with school committee members to say they
would not work for MV Coachlines because of unpaid bonuses, inhospitable
working conditions, reduced routes and distrust of Mr. Pigman.

At the Tuesday meeting, the drivers were hesitant to sign on right
away, raising concerns about salaries, management and the need to find a
long-term solution to address flaws in the transportation system.

"Take it on faith," Mr. Weiss told drivers. "If we
work together I think we can put in place all that is going to happen.
Yes, I'm asking you to trust me. I think in the long run it will
be better for you."

Under the six-week plan, Mr. Weiss along with Amy Tierney, assistant
to the superintendent for business affairs, and Jim Maseda, a longtime
bus driver and coordinator for athletic games and field trips, will
manage the busses. If a bus breaks down on the side of the road Mr.
Maseda will be behind the radio. Problems with children or with drivers
will go to Mr. Weiss.

Hours later on Tuesday, school leaders expressed their own
reservations about the plan in a meeting with Mr. Weiss, questioning the
legal and financial implications of the decision to assume management.

The first to speak was David Morris, a member of the transportation
subcommittee and a representative from Oak Bluffs, who said that over
the weekend he had learned more about the issue and thought the
committees were legally obligated to award the contract to Island
Transport, the second bidder.

Mr. Weiss said the move was allowed because school leaders had a
legitimate reason for not awarding the contract to Island Transport,
namely that they wanted to manage the busses themselves.

However, the school committees never voted not to award the contract
to Island Transport. Scott Dario, one of the owners of Island Transport,
said he is looking into the legal ramifications.

Roxanne Ackerman, a member of the up-Island school committee,
questioned how much the outside consultant will cost the schools,
reminding fellow committee members that last year they were slammed with
a $35,000 consulting fee from MV Coachlines.

Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter, a member of the up-Island school committee
and the lone dissenting vote, questioned the loss of the lease money.
"I think getting into the transportation business is a big
mistake," Mr. Manter said. "I'm sure it's going
to cost more money."

Under the old contract system, the schools owned the busses and
leased them to the companies, which brought in $350,000 for the
up-Island school district each year. That money amounts to roughly 30
per cent of the up-Island district's annual budget, not taking
into account the town assessments.

Mr. Manter wanted to know where his already financially fraught
district would find more money, saying the issue needed to be resolved
before any decisions were made. The up-Island district owns 10 busses
and the high school owns 12. The busses were bought in 1999 and the
lease money was used to pay the debt incurred from the purchase.
According to Mrs. Tierney the last debt payment was made this summer.

There is also the issue of state reimbursement for school bus
transportation, which will decrease under the new system.

"We will lose revenue," Mrs. Tierney said yesterday.
"This is why we didn't want to do this. We had a lot of good
financial things going on with the contracts."

Discussion circled around the financial implications awhile longer
before the final vote was taken. Oak Bluffs school committee member Bob
Tankard said they have six weeks to look at other options and make
decisions.

"As school committee members we need to be apprised of things
as they are happening," Mr. Tankard said. "This is strike
two, and if we strike out again we have no one to blame but ourselves.
We also need to be a little bit more open to suggestions."