June 24th, 2019 by WCBC Radio
One of the issues presented as a concern during last week’s Allegany County Board of Education budget meeting centered on contracted school bus services. Board vice-president Dr. David Bohn raised the issue pointing out that some drivers are retiring and it's tough to replace them because the pay is low. It’s a subject that has been raised in the past with board member Wayne Foote noting that the Allegany County’s system is not competitive with neighboring counties- saying that the overall compensation packages are superior to what is offered here. Dr. Bohn said he isn’t certain how best to solve the problem- but he would like the transportation department to take it under advisement….
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June 24, 2019 at 1:09 pm, Jt Hare said:
Instead of constantly asking for more money, how about you balance the budget and move money around to cover it.
June 24, 2019 at 1:39 pm, kevin said:
Okay, we are having a hard time finding people to drive our children to school safely everyday because they can’t make enough money. How do we solve this problem? Really? The question even needs to be asked? This from the same Dr. who is not making enough money treating BOE employees on BOE insurance? It seems his solution was to raise payments to chiropractors. Mr. Farrell’s solution to his lawsuit was to give him more money for past slights. But no one thinks maybe we need to pay bus drivers a bit more? Really? Just remember we voted for this crew. Amazing.
June 24, 2019 at 1:40 pm, kevin said:
> I guess we need to elect more bus drivers to the BOE. Problem solved!
June 24, 2019 at 2:30 pm, Sue Walker said:
I doubt if Allegany County will go for it but I think the best school bus system in the state is that of Montgomery County. There all bus drivers are County employees and the buses are bought, run and maintained by County employees in the County garage. All drivers are examined physically, mentally & have to pass a criminal record check & driving test. They also do not have any buses using gasoline engines, they are all diesel engines for safety. I’ve been in that garage and it the most cleanest garage I’ve ever seen anywhere, you could eat your dinner on the floor.
June 24, 2019 at 5:21 pm, kevin said:
> I agree. Of course this costs money, doesn’t it? It also provides benefits and retirement for drivers. I’m sure it would be popular here.
June 24, 2019 at 7:32 pm, Jay said:
>The info is appreciated Sue but comparing ALCO to MOCO on any level is an exercise in futility. MOCO has 25 high schools, 40 middle schools, over 160,000 students, 13,000 teachers. and a 2.1 billion dollar budget. We have 8,000 students and about 700 teachers. Enrollment is 20 times ours and the budget is about 18 times ours.