SOUTH BEND — Cheers quickly turnedto frustration Monday night after the South Bend school board unanimously approved an agreement to award one-time bonuses to bus drivers.
The stipends — $1,500 for qualifying full-time employees, covered by the South Bend district’s federal pandemic relief money — will be paid on Oct. 1, two weeks after teachers and staff received their own bonuses for extra work during the coronavirus pandemic.
John Anella, the school board president, said the stipend was notpaid to the district’s transportation workers on Friday, at the same time as other staff, because a contract with the employees’ union hasn’t been completed.
“We just want to make sure you get your $1,500 stipend, regardless of the status of the contract, just like everyone else has,” Anella said during Monday night’s meeting. “We don’t want you to be short-changed because we know how much work you do and how important this is.”
Drivers, who initially applauded the agreement, later criticized the board’s action, calling it a “bully tactic” as the workers navigatecontract negotiations.
Mozell Bowens, president of AFSCME Local 686, representing drivers, said the union and administratorshave not been able to come together over compensation proposals and was told drivers would not receive their stipends until a contract had been ratified.
The school board members’ decisionMonday night allowsdrivers to receive that stipend outside of contract negotiations through a separate agreement.
“It shouldn’t have had to get to this point,” Bowens said. “It’s almost like we have to beg the corporation to do right by the bus drivers.”
Several school board members said they didn't know the bus drivers would not receive bonuses at the same time as other employees.
“The first time I heard that you did not receive your stipends was from two bus drivers from my church,” board member Jeanette McCullough said. “My sister’s a bus driver, and I do appreciate you and I hear you.”
School district plans for staff shortage
The contract negotiations come as South Bend enters its second month of a plan to stretch route coverage during a staffing shortage and improve the consistency of pick-up and drop-off times.
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Transportation Director LaToya King told The Tribune last week that the new system has allowed the district to route all of its buses on time. Some parents, however, told The Tribune they’ve experienced delays reminiscent of last school year.
Like districts across the country, South Bend has faced staffing shortagesand has had to scramble to fill routes due to coronavirus-related illness or quarantine.
The transportation department currently has enough drivers to fill its assigned routes, King told The Tribune, but is hiring substitutes to fill in when regular drivers call off.
Bus drivers, however, say workers continue to leaveand employees who stay are stretched thin.
They described overloaded routes packed with students sitting three to a seat in every row. Some routes are so full, drivers say, that they are unable to complete a full morning route in one trip.
Driversinsteadhave to bypass students when thebuses fillup and call in for extra help or circle back after completing a first trip.
“We had 20 to 30 buses break down the first week of school,” said bus driver Kandace DeMeyer. “We have construction. We have police activity. We have schools putting kids on the wrong buses. We have parents that aren’t home when we drop off these babies. It’s not just because we call off and we are late.”
Board member Oletha Jones recognized Monday night that the pandemic is not the sole cause of the transportation challenges. She pointed to the district’s school choice structure, which allows some students to be bused across the city, away from schools closest to their neighborhoods.
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Coming off a year that placed a national media spotlight on South Bend’s school bus Wi-Fi initiative, drivers say they hope administrators value the workers driving the buses.
“Everything that these kids go through, we deal with it,” bus driver Tamisha Johnson said. “It comes to us first and ends with us. We’re counselors, we’re social workers, we’re moms. We’re everything to these kids.”
After the meeting, union members gathered outside to take pictures and discuss next steps. With their stipends secured, the transportation staff will continue with contract negotiations.
South Bend Superintendent Todd Cummings briefly joined the group of more than 40 workers after the meeting.
“I appreciate you making your voices heard and I did want to say thank you for coming out tonight,” he said. “Let’s get back to the table.”
Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Carley Lanich at clanich@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @carleylanich.
