001Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Good evening everyone and welcome to a special meeting of the Waterberry Board of Education here at Waterberry Arts Magnet School. Uh the topic tonight is on uh transportation. We'll begin uh with the silent prayer. Commissioner Orso, could you lead us in the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Vice President Latoya Ireland number one. Sorry. Committee of the whole uh for discussion. services agreement RFP number 8620 to provide transportation services for medically fragile students and or students with disabilities and or McKenna Vento students with Sky Transportation LLC. >> Thank you, Mr.
002Albini. Good evening. Um, President Brown, Board of Education Commissioners, Superintendent Dr. Schwarz. The education department respectfully requests your review and approval of a service agreement with Sky Transportation to provide transportation services for medically fragile students and/or students with disabilities and or Mckin Vento students for the Waterbury public schools in the amount not to exceed $7,70,000400 $70,400 over a 5-year period. This agreement is funded through the general fund. The term is for 5 years beginning on September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2031. Uh, honorable board, this evening we have, uh, Eddie Tasado here, one of the principles of Sky Transportation, as well as Daniel Mina, uh, one of the, uh, uh, district managers uh, for our district here. And they are here to, uh, answer any questions that you may have. I'll step aside for them.
003If there are any procedural questions for me, I'll certainly come back and provide any information uh that you uh uh ask. Thank you. If our guests would like to come up, >> sorry for the delay. >> No worries. >> Good afternoon. If you could just repeat your name when you speak for the uh >> Sure. My name is Dan Mina. I'm director of national counsel for Sky Transportation and uh primary account manager for this contract. >> Thank you. >> Hi, my name is Eddie Tado. I'm one of the principal partners of Sky Transportation. >> Okay. Welcome. >> Thank you. >> Commissioners, any questions? Commissioner Orso, >> gentlemen, thanks for being here. Hang on. >> All right, I'll be >> just a couple of questions. Um feel like I'm in church here. Uh what is that?
004>> It's a speaker. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Uh what uh experience do you have with student transportation and fra and especially the fragile these type of students? What what experience do you have? >> Sure. Uh so Sky Sky Sky Sky Transportation was founded here in Connecticut 2013 primarily as a student transportation NMT non-emergency medical transportation company and since then we've grown to several different markets uh transporting fragile populations veterans students with special needs um dialeride programs for like the town of West Harford. So, as with student transportation, we do extensive work for the DCF uh student uh uh school of origin transportation, and we've done that uh we've been doing that for pretty much since the inception. >> 2014. Yeah. And uh thank you. Also, um I really this is going to be a big
005project for you, I'm assuming. uh do you have the the amount of staff and equipment and buses that you'd be able to uh use in a proper manner? >> This is a considerable project, but we we have uh we have a footprint in seven states. We have over 200 vehicles and um scaling to these projects is not new to us. Uh we have a resource where we get our vehicles. Um and we have a a recruiting agency plus our HR department. they partner to um recruit and hire drivers and monitors for this project. So, we're just determining. We're in that process right now. Yes. >> I I don't want to be a wise guy, but you said there's 200 vehicles outside the state. We want >> No, no, no. We have we have in Connecticut,
006we have well probably 35 with our current customers. Uh so, in addition to those 35, we'll scale additional vehicles for this project. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Commissioner Van Stone. Thank you, Madam President. Through you, uh, thank you for being here tonight. And I do see on here you have, uh, real time GPS tracking. Now, in our, uh, regular ed population, we have a tracking app that parents could follow. Is that something that you folks have considered? >> Is that app primarily used for the large buses? It is. Yes. So, we primarily use uh, sedans, minivans, the smaller vehicles. Um we it's something we could look at. It wasn't a asked. >> It hasn't come up with parents. Yeah. But you never know when they will. >> Our our systems are integraable. So yeah, so
007very well might be able to integrate with that. >> Yeah. >> That'd be great if you could just in case it comes up again, you could have a you know >> quick answer for us. Now the other thing is and again we haven't had any issues coming before us with uh respect to your company or the other special life company. However, if at any time we would like you to come before the board and give us an update, especi if it wants to be about good things, that's great, too. But, you know, sometime when we have a a considerable amount of traffic through our parents coming through to us, uh, you know, mainly with complaints. They usually don't call us when it's going well. So, uh, would you be willing to come and share with
008us whatever date it is to show things like corrective action when you do have issues? Absolutely. So we we do collect complaints and uh resolutions. We do track those and we do report on those. Uh some of our customers require them quarterly. Some of them uh by annually, some of them annually. And uh we do we will present that data, you know, >> upon request. >> Yeah. Upon request or uh schedule two as well. >> That's that's excellent. >> And we're here in Connecticut also. Dan's right here local and I'm in North Haven. So whenever you guys need us, we're >> if we need something like that away. greatly appreciate it. Thank you, >> Commissioner Latoya Ireland. >> Thank you, Madam President. Just to um piggy back off of uh Commissioner Van Stone, I see
009for daily operations, there's a dedicated phone number for families and school staff. So, I'm assuming that there's just one number that the parents and families can call. >> Absolutely. We we will dedicate a number to uh Waterberry Public Schools for parents and staff to call. Uh so that that number will be rerooted to the staff that is dedicated to handle the waterberry contract. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> I I >> I had a question in terms of will there be you you are you are in several states. Will you have a dedicated person to work with our transportation department to be in communication with like like we know it's Joe Smith is our guy. Absolutely. So, um I asked Eddie and u uh Roman, his partner, that if they would allow me to be
010I am the count director of national accounts, but I am from Waterberry. I graduated from Waterberry Schools, so I asked specifically if they would let me handle this account. So, yeah. >> Okay, >> that would be me. >> Okay, now we know. Okay, we know where to find you. >> My name's My name's all over it. And the other question I have for the medically fragile children, do you supply the medical personnel or is that something that the school district and the family supplies that gets in the van with you? >> So we we supply monitors um any uh elevated level of certifications. We have a third party that we can uh contract to get uh nurses, LPNs, those types. But we don't we don't hire them directly um unless it's we use a third
011party um company cuz they do the vetting and the and the licensing verifications and so often the school districts will uh provide that resource and we will arrange with them to pick them up and drop them off with the student. >> Okay, that makes sense. All right, any other questions? Good evening, Commissioner Lot. I know you got stuck in traffic and commissioner, you were in traffic, so glad you could make it. Uh this is the sky um transportation contract. I don't know if you had any questions for our guests. >> Commissioner also asked the question that I had. So >> Okay. All right. Well, thank you very much for coming. >> Thank you. >> Before you leave, I want to just say that's okay. I just want to say that um and this is for
012everybody so I'll just repeat it for everyone but you know when we hire these services specifically uh your reflection on Waterberry and Waterberry public schools just want to kind of remind everyone in the room that um your best is our best and so and a lot of times for parents they're just trusting us to deliver the best of service and so the the lines blur between um they don't care you know if you're part of the Waterberry public schools or not or if you're service. They just see that you as another adult that's in their child's life. And I just want you to keep that in mind. So, we're your partner in this, but also, you know, let's let's work together to make sure that we're delivering the best service for students. >> Agree. >>
013Absolutely. >> You're part of the team now. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Vice President Ireland. Committee of the whole discussion services agreement RFP number 8627 for student bus transportation services for special education program with Allstar Transportation LLC. >> Good evening once again. Nick Elbini, chief operating officer. I just wanted to add one more thing to the sky presentation that uh their vehicles are leased. >> Okay. >> So, they can get the the required vehicles that uh we require here very quickly. Uh it's not like they're especially uh manufactured and will take months to get. So, we can get those rather quickly and there'll be newer models and that's was one of the things through our discussions that those vehicles will always be upgraded to a newer model. So, I just wanted to
014put that out there before uh uh Eddie and um Daniel left. The education department respectfully requests your review and approval of the service agreement RFP number 8627 for student bus transportation services for special education program under this 5-year agreement which will run from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2031 and will be paid via the education department general funds. Allstar Transportation will provide daily transportation for morning and afternoon bus routes, supplying at least 60 buses during the regular school year and for summer. All-Star will also supply school buses for our split and early dismissals, after school programs, early childhood education program, and out of district services. the total amount of this contract not to exceed 71,36,616. Allstar has serviced Waterbury public schools for the past 20 years. Unfortunately, uh the representatives for Allstar could not
015make it this evening, but if I may, um if the board allows me to, I will speak on behalf of Allstar during the negotiations. Uh they were easy to work with. Um we've certainly haven't had uh any problems in at least three and a half years that I've been in this position. Um uh we've had regular meetings. We've discussed some of the things that we had concerns about, some of the things they had concerns about. Um it was a substantial savings to Waterbury Public Schools. I'll just put it like that for now. Um and the service has been right where we wanted them to be. There has never been a driver shortage, >> a vehicle shortage, u maintenance issues. Uh so, um at some point hopefully we can get Allstar to come and and present,
016but they were not available for this evening. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Any questions uh about AllStar? Commissioner Orso, >> I uh in my past life, I've been dealing with Allstar for the last 20 years, and I have to echo Mr. Albini's statements that uh I never had a problem with them. They're always on time. Never heard any complaints. So I have no problem with Allstar at all. I just appreciate them. Thank you. >> Any other comments? Commissioner Van Stone. >> Yeah. Not to just continue along with this. I went looking for people of uh you know, parents of special ed students to give me any information that potentially could be useful in having a conversation tonight. And I there is no nothing negative come to me. So hopefully we can keep that pattern going.
017>> Good. >> Um certainly uh for the next few years. But thanks. >> Yes sir. >> Um I'm sorry to interrupt. Uh if the board also remembers when we lost our funding from our magnet schools for Thomas and Plymouth Tville and we came in front of the board for busing to pick it up. That was Allstar. >> So they picked it up. They didn't uh change their rates. they kept the rates that they were using for those two districts uh and we were able to keep our uh magnet school uh magnet school enrollment uh up because of Allstar. So, we found them very easy to work with um in the past. Uh and and they have had a we're seeing some large numbers uh contracts unionized. Uh these companies have unionized since the last contract.
018So, that's going to also put in a little bit of an inflationary uh amount of money in there. >> Thank you. Any other comments or questions? Thank you very much. Commissioner Ireland number three. >> Ladies and gentlemen, for discussion, services agreement RFP number 8612 for student bus transportation services for regular education program with Durham School Services LP. Uh Dr. Schwarz, >> I'll start with Nick and then I'll jump off of him. Sorry. >> I'm sorry. Uh, the education department respectfully requests your review and approval of the service agreement RFP number 8612 for student transportation services for reg regular education students. The education department seeks to enter into a service agreement with Durham school services. This agreement will provide daily transportation for morning and afternoon bus routes supplying at least 130 school buses during the regular
019school year and for summer school. Durham will also supply school buses for our early and split dismissals, after school programs, athletics, co-curricular, extracurricular in and out of the city, and provide roundtrip transportation for students enrolled in our Southernington uh agricultural and science technology, our BOAG, their BOAG program that our students attend. Um the Durham has serviced Waterberry for the past 20 years as well. The total contract amount shall not exceed 68,97,000 and $97,068. Uh this evening we do have uh the management staff for Durham here, Mr. Steven Schmuck, Mr. John Ziegler, Mr. John Elliot, and Mr. John Kley. Um to I'm sure you have some questions. Uh certainly we had our questions. Uh I think it's the board's turn to uh inquire and get some information and and uh and updates from them that they're
020willing to uh provide. I believe it's John Kley, so I mispronounced John's last name, so I apologize, but I will bring them up and and uh you can ask questions. If you have anything about the process, I'm here and I can answer those questions. >> Thank you. Yes. Welcome. So, as uh Durham takes their seats, I have a few just comments to make up front uh regarding uh the the process. Um obviously, we always hope for competition regardless of whatever RFP we put out. Um Durham uh was selected and I trust the I trust the RFP process. I trust the team uh in making the decision. Um but uh I'd be remissed if I didn't say that uh and I can speak for several of my colleagues disappointed in the performance this year specifically. I've
021had more emails and calls about transportation specifically regarding Durham. Um more in one month than a whole year of when we transitioned to kids having to put their cell phones away in yonder pouches. So you could imagine the the change in transition that was for families and kids. And I I I can it's not even close, not even the same ballpark on how many times a week Mr. Alvini and myself and other members of the cabinet and parents reaching out to me in frustration and how many times we have to take our focus away from the work that has to be done in the district for transportation. Um you're a vendor and you're paid for the services. uh similar to what I said earlier but by extension you're also part of the team and um
022as we move forward you know the minimum expectation is in the contract that's the minimum that we expect uh that's what we will be holding you accountable for we did start collecting fees this year as you recall board we've collected over $160,000 in fees from Durham starting in the middle of the year that number is rising but quite frankly I think we'd we'd rather not collect those fees from you. We just want the job to be done because no matter amount of money we collect, it doesn't um it doesn't let that parent rest easy. It doesn't stop the phone calls from coming and the emails from coming. So, I'd much rather have you perform uh as expected. We have a tough terrain in Waterberry. Chronic absenteeism is one of our district goals. Um, and very
023most of the time you're that first you're that first interaction a child has before they leave the house. Awesome responsibility there to set the tone to be there on time. Show them that adults are responsible that they can get there and get to you and pick you up. That's an awesome responsibility that uh none of us take lightly. Um, you've committed to change though. We've had that conversation. We've all met. Um, you've committed to additional personnel. uh and now it's time to live up to those expectations. Um I'm suggesting to the board of ed uh based on what I've seen for this year um there's a there's a section in the facility meet uh committee that talks about transportation uh that committee I would recommend and if if it pleases the board all three companies
024we talked to tonight that they give quarterly updates to that facilities meeting similar to what commissioner Van Stones was saying and at least two workshop meetings meetings a year, but at the very least four quarterly meetings. Um, so that we can gauge the progress in process so we can say this is where we started. Um, and I want to be your biggest champion by the end of year. I want to be the person that says look at where we started. Look at where we not saying it's going to be perfect. No transportation company is, no district is, but we have to see tremendous progress. Um, and I'm going to presume positive intentions moving forward. Um, but I also just I want you to hear this as well that if we don't see that growth in
025those quarterly meetings, we will have to have tougher discussions about whether contracts are being breached or not. That's how serious it is. That's how the board has communicated to me of how much we need to see an improvement. So, we're the the recommendation from the committee was Durham. Um that comes with also we know uh performance. We know what the strengths are. We also know what the weaknesses have been going with outside companies. You don't always know that you could be paying more and actually getting less. We know that uh we could be paying more and getting more. Um we'd rather with the discussion at the committee meeting was to go with you with the commitment to the change you you've said that you're able to to conduct. I've already seen some progress in there
026in terms of personnel and some discussions. I'd like to see that continue. And I just wanted to start off this conversation because I'm echoing a lot of things that I've heard, not just from you, rewind the tape to the last board meeting. There were students sitting right here and they said something needs to happen about transportation. The kids said it and that that's not adults telling them to say it. They came up with that on their own. And so they're talking for their own peers uh when they come here. And so it's not just from the adults, it's from the kids as well. And I hope you're hearing that tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioners, any questions? Commissioner Orso, Commissioner Jackson, and Commissioner >> Gentlemen, >> excuse me, I'm sorry. Thank you for coming this
027evening. Uh, just to give you a little history, I was the uh purchasing director for the first contract that you had. And at that time, I was very, very happy that you had won the contract because we were at the uh one company bid process. So then when you came in, there was at least two or three people that came in and bid the process project and I was very happy with it. Now I'm on the other side of the fence. Totally disappointed. Totally disappointed. You know, you come in and did the dog and pony shows how we're doing this and we're doing that and we're doing this. Then we get into the same old routine. Every year we have to have a slew of people on telephones because his going this way, that going
028that way. I don't know. What I'm happy about is this uh Durham School Services commitment to Waterberry and all the changes that are going to be made. My question is why weren't they changed before? >> Why do we have to go through this and have parents sitting this yelling at us because you're missing a student? We have 18 19,000 students. I don't care if one student is left behind. It's one too many. And I know we're going to have a slew of people out here when they hear that Durham is going to get the contract again. Yeah. >> Okay. And we want to have answers. And I know that you were vetted through the committee and I I was following the process very closely. Believe me. So what I'm saying tonight, I'm echoing what the
029superintendent says. We need to know for a fact that you will do this and we'll hold you accountable. And there is a little statement in this contract in every contract that the city has. Termination at no cause. And if I see what happens and I see parents out there almost crying because their student was left off at a different spot, it's going to be hell to pay. And I'm telling you, and I'll be the first one. And always remember that because I've had it because I I I totally disgusted because I was so happy when you guys were there and you did some good work and I didn't hear the complaints. Like I said, I'm on the other side now and I have to listen to their parents and I'm a parent and a grandparent
030and I know exactly how they feel. So hopefully you will improve and we wouldn't want the quarterly reports and maybe sometimes monthly reports. >> Okay, so that's my soap box for tonight. Thank you and thanks for being here. Thanks for listening. >> Commissioner Jackson, >> thank you. Um, ironically, um, I apologize for being late, but ironically, it was because of a busing issue with one of my kids. Um, we all know the history and there's been difficulties in the past and you guys committed to doing better. And personally, as a parent who uses the bus, I have seen improvements in my area. So much so that I didn't realize how much how problematic it still is in some other areas. Um, this year has been the best busing year for my kids and they've been
031here since preschool with AllStar and then Durham and um the busing app um definitely an upgrade from the previous version. It's real time. I can see you know where the bus is. One um problem that I see is one of my children her bus um for whatever reason for a while kept breaking down. And where you could improve is somehow through the app or some way letting us know what number the replacement bus was because there was no way for us to track that. So I would end up having to call. Um another um I've seen changes in the personnel who were in the office when you call. It used to be that you would call and they either would just let the phone ring or they would pick it up and put you on
032hold and then just hang up or they would just leave it lying live like hot and just talk and never get back and then just hang up. I haven't had that problem this year. Everybody's been really responsive, friendly. Um but obviously it looks like you fix it in one area and then it shows up somewhere else as problematic somewhere else in the city. So, um I definitely think that more quarterly check-ins, you know, for opportunities um for growth would be appropriate. And thank you for being here. >> Thank you, >> Commissioner Van Stone. >> Thank you, Madam President, through you. They got the nice people out of the way first. >> Really, >> had I been on this committee, I would have sent the RFP back to the street. Can't get any plain more plain
033than that. U I don't believe any of this that you send us on commitments. I've been asking for various reports and when I asked the company earlier tonight about their data that they keep as far as how they log everything in and find a correct correction action plan. That was proposed on purpose because I've been asking Durham to supply me with that data for three years. And so far your report looks like this piece of paper. So I have no reason to put any any value into what you guys are Well, I thought that was a blank piece of paper when I held that up before. So sorry about that. It was a blank piece of paper is what I've received so far. But as far as what you have here, it it means nothing
034to me. Absolutely nothing. You say you're going to increase the phone lines and the number of people that are there. You sold us that two years ago and it never happened. We had to send extra people over from our payroll to sit there and answer phones. So why should I believe it now? You told me the same thing. And central office sent people over to answer the phones and we paid for that. This thing means nothing to me. It means absolutely nothing. Um I agree with Commissioner Orso when these parents hear that we have re-uped with you folks. >> Yeah. >> They're not going to be happy. Had I been on this committee besides sending it back to the street, there's no way I would have done a five-year and I get I I did
035see the clause that we have for no cause. However, there's no way I would have done a five-year contract. Maybe I would have done a five-year renewal every year so that we go through a whole new process every single year to see if we can ever get a straight answer from you guys because we never have. Never. And I I I know Commissioner Ireland has really felt this pain because she and I have been asking these same questions for the same number this same number of years and and we just never get an answer. So I'm looking very closely as a copa uh scope of services because part of that is uh to supply you know uh information back to us reports. It just says reports in general. It doesn't give anything in particular. uh
036just as reports. Uh and I went through this entire contract. I read the entire thing and never did we define reports. Um and I know a lot of times with the city of Waterberry, our contracts are 99% cut and paste and then we throw in a couple things that are, you know, unique to the particular contract. I would have defined reports. It was a verbal request from the superintendent tonight on how we could handle that. Um, I got an immediate commitment from one of the earlier suppliers because I got the impression from the earlier supplier that we are the customer and will be handled as the customer. Three years ago, I had asked you guys if you realize we were the customer. And I've heard the so-called reasons, which are really excuses. I've heard I
037don't know how many times that the district manager has changed, this person has changed, that person has changed in management. The driver situation is a driver situation. Um, and but I do see you're you're trying to do some extra things for drivers, which I appreciate. You're trying to help them with some of their finances that they incur. So, um, I that is appreciated because I don't blame much of this on the drivers. And I also know on some of this we probably could do a better job of uh districting our students as uh you know and piecing together some of these bus routes. Now I'm I'm very disappointed that our director of transportation is not in the room tonight. If he's at the alderman meeting that's too bad. He should be here. Um, that's very
038disappointing to me that our own our own person didn't come here tonight because I don't get any answers from him either. So, it it's been clearly stated that we have to do a better job. Um, and I don't know. Can you guys tell me a reason why I should believe what you're telling us you're going to do better on these pieces of paper? >> Yes, sir. Um, >> please state your name. >> Yep. My name is Steve Schmuck, the vice president of operations for the Northeast Territory. >> Um, with me is John Kley, our brand new region manager for the state of Connecticut. >> Uh, John Ziegler, who's our, uh, VP of commercial development and our senior vice president of customer care, John Elliott Jr. >> Thank you, sir. >> So, I one I want
039to apologize to the board, President Brown, Dr. Schwarz, all of you. um for the what you've experienced. Uh I can't speak to past commitments. I don't know that anyone was here, but what I want to guarantee you and assure you today is I heard Dr. Schwarz prior and certainly here today in in the board meeting about quarterly or monthly commitments. I would love to do that. I think it's a great uh progress check and certainly we would commit to being present for any meetings um and and be a partner with you know measuring that improvement. We are making significant amount of changes and I know you said you've heard that before. Um we've reorged the the region to have just a dedicated region manager in the state of Connecticut only. Um we are hiring a
040brand new general manager to run the location here in Waterberry. We are committing to two customer service brand new customer service representatives which we've been hiring for. It's advertised right now. Um which will also additionally support um our phone u you know responses, our dispatch and routing solution lookups. We've already uh reinvested in our Ring Central phone system. We've now got recording capability. We've reposted new phone numbers on the Waterberry uh website tollfree etc. uh we've um got telematics reporting and everything call coming from our call center. Now we also have um a safety and training coordinator position which is going to be dedicated to support recruiting and on boarding. We also hired in an additional recruiter um which those are people that are here today already working um as part of the new the
041new commitment with that. We've also um looked at a lot of process uh and uh invested in systems and technologies. We have made a number of changes um one of them mentioned by the one of the commissioners regarding um the the parent app. We're going to take it a step further. We're going to integrate to a whole new routing platform the next school year, Traversa, which is going to be pushing live time tablet data to the driver rights and lefts. It'll actually have the student routing information in the bus. That's going to be implemented in the course of the first school year of the new contract. We've already ordered. I've already got the PO systems. We're already working on the training and implementation. That's going to take a period of time. We've also implemented and
042we're installing in two weeks SAM SAH, which is going to be um a replacement of our technology that we implemented in the last few years. Uh it's a safety behavioral technique uh training tool which is a video that looks out and looks backwards. It monitors traffic safety performance and behavioral coaching. This is an upgraded platform for that. And what it also does is it's going to integrate with our entire student management system inside the bus, which is all the internal cameras. It'll be cloud-based live time where we can pull up a bus live time. We can extract data. No more waiting for the bus to pull in at night and go grab a hard drive. It'll all be remote. So, that's all being installed right now as well. That'll be live over the course of
043the summer. So, for the new school year, we've got uh 50 brand new buses coming in. Everything we're ordering is going to all have um air conditioning, air ride, heated seats, and everything for the drivers. Obviously, improve their ride, their employment, and you know, enjoying a safer ride. Uh those are coming in starting, I think, next week. We've got 50 of them coming in that'll be here by through July. So obviously we've got a lot of investment there that we're looking to do and really push forward to ensure not only just all the background stuff is absolutely functioning and it's really performing high level, but we've got the right training back behind it right now in our recruiting pipeline. And I know we've had a lot of plague uh driver staffing challenges over the year.
044Right now I've got 26 that are running through various stages of background. I've got 12 behind the wheel. I've got I think three that went testing today. Um so we've got a lot of movement. We've got AI working through recruiting processes. We've implemented a lot of corporate resource phenom recruiting tools etc that are really you know driving home a much better volume because we need volume in the school bus world unfortunately for you know you need to see 700 applicants to get down to maybe 30 licensed drivers. And so we worked through that process and we've been working through that. We implemented paid training this year. As you mentioned, taking care of the drivers. We did unionize amid this contract. It it did cause us to shift and do some things differently. And we are
045actually actively doing negotiations. This is John's second week. I think he's day six for him. >> Day six. And um >> who's counting? >> We we actively are negotiating uh the union contract right now. We feel as though we may get a ratification vote very soon. Um but but in that was a commitment to incentivize and provide a bonus structure which we did. Now it's all pending uh ratification. I you know can't get into the details of at this point but we've got some safety and attendance incentives built in really high you know wage adjustments to make make sure that they're competitive. We want local community members to be our bus drivers. They're the ones that are most invested in the kids the community. We want to take care of them. So, we have a
046really good package out there and I really feel as though that's going to help with retention, draw people back into Waterberry and really make sure that we've got a good pool of people and candidates to work with. We're also investing uh in our facility. We're installing a new gasoline tank. We've got paving. We're rebuilding a whole new training center in the building. We've got a lot of things moving. There's probably a lot more than this meeting scheduled for, but I I could We're really putting everything we've got into making this right. And I would love to personally be here to help John when when we do our first quarterly or monthly or whatever updates we need. We'll be here for that. Make sure that you guys get the confidence back in us um back to
047when um Mr. Commissioner Orso mentioned 20 years ago. I was here 20 years ago and um we'll get it back to that. I promise you. >> And the data I was looking for, just so you know. Okay, I get it. I if you notice I kind of shrugged when you said I wasn't here when we did those. That's what I've been hearing. It was never the same person coming back to talk to us, >> you know, and and and that's a big part of it, too. You know, again, we had that conversation also with the previous company that was up here, and it was someone that is from Waterberry that wanted to come back to be the the PC, to be the go-to person. We need consistency when it comes to that as well. Not
048just with your drivers, not just with your maintenance. the people we have to get answers from. We would like to see the same people coming back to talk to us because otherwise we just keep hearing this. I wasn't here. Well, you know what? I don't really care. Your company was >> understood. >> Okay. uh you know I'm retired now but when I sat before the US government and the contracts that I was doing there it was you know I performed before the Marines in doing those contracts trust me there is no excuses none at all >> I don't put up with them either okay so I'm still not comfortable I'm going to be very honest with you on that I'm not comfortable but As far as the data I like to see is not just
049the data that oh on day four we missed two stops. No, I want to hear what you did about it. I want to hear how that issue was corrected. Not just shortterm but long term. And if you have 50 continuous problems you're having and if you stackman poles, you go from that long pole to the short pole. You get rid of that first long pole. You move on to the next. >> You move on to the next. You move on to the next. And that's how you get solutions. That's how you correct problems. Okay? That's the data I want to see. I don't just want to see on Tuesday I missed one stop, you know, or whatever. I want to see what you're doing about it. And the and I want to see that it's
050not happening on a regular basis. or you can come in and say it is happening and here's our short-term and our long-term plan on how we're going to deal with that. I don't think it's much that and I've said to the people that came before you on at that table, I said I would think you would want that data as much as I do. I would hope if you're really dedicated to give us good service, I would think you would also want that data. You don't want the same problem over and over again. I'm sure either. So, please prove me wrong. >> That's all I can ask. Thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner L. >> Thank you, Madam President. Yeah. So, I think in this room m maybe I'm probably the last one to ride
051a school bus, right? I went here was when I'm not too far removed from high school and taking the school bus and I remember you guys were the contract company that did the busing when I was in school. So, since you've been here 20, what happened since then? Because back when I was in school, the buses were there. We had rides everywhere. We were getting where we needed to be. When I worked as school program uh coordinator, buses were there. They're on time. Kids got there. Parents were happy. Everything was running smooth. And then all of a sudden, I start hearing this girl's softball team doesn't have a ride to their game down the street. Or they have to do games here at this park because they can't get a ride to Seymour to play.
052Or I have a grandparent that comes in here and says his grandkids are two hours late off the bus. >> Right. I have another after school program in the city of Waterberry that I worked at previously where busing wasn't an issue. Now they're having problems with the saying parents are not signing their kids up for after school program because they don't want their kids on the bus till 8 at night. >> So what happened from when you started? What went wrong in the middle? Like what and what change you committed to now? You know what I mean? I you have to know exactly what went wrong to fix the problem, right? We just can't go in there blind and just putting tape and nails everywhere. You have to know what went wrong. So what went
053wrong to where we have this issue now where everyone in the board right now is completely fed up. >> Yeah. I I think one my apologies to you. I I think what has driven the biggest problem with support uh is our staffing levels and there has been a shift in the industry that has caused difficulties with getting CDLs and retention and there's been certain uh application of laws that have come into play that have additionally uh strained the market and I think we've seen a lot of people leave and exit. Um there are certain things that um I work with the board uh with the Connecticut School Transportation Association where we're trying to partner with making things easier for the state with the DMV and the testing and proficiencies. And so I that is truly
054the the core root cause of what has caused a lot of um lateness or uh difficulties in certain service areas. And I think, you know, as as we said, we we unionized mid-stream in this contract, which caused us to shift. I don't know that we obviously did as good a job, and I think in some of our leadership roles um and really managing that. I'll just take I'll take that responsibility and and fix that. And I think that we absolutely have a great plan now um of adjusting um how we're going to, you know, be respectful, be a great employer, really recover that and work to be a leading uh competitor in the state as far as trying to hire and retain all those drivers. >> That's going to make the difference. >> Okay. And
055then you said that you would do the So, are we going to get monthly reports on what's going on? >> Yeah. What whatever it is that we need is >> I want a yes or no. >> Yes. Whatever this board would like, we will provide. And it can be adaptable based on the agenda or certain metrics or whatever you'd like to see, we absolutely would love to prepare something for you. And it can be um an email through Dr. Schwarz and and the administration or directly to the board, however you guys would like to see that. Uh and then we can be in person quarterly. Again, whatever it is that we need to gain back your confidence, we will do that. >> Yeah. just cuz I mean I have small children that will start school
056in the next year and two second two years from now. I have multiple children. So I'm terrified to put them on the bus at this point. I really don't know what to do. So I'm on that building and facility committee as well. So please step up and get it together because if not we're going to have a different conversation as soon as we can have that conversation. >> Thank you Commissioner Ireland. >> Yes. Thank you Madam President. Um I won't be labored of time uh just to put on record that I do I have the same sentiments as my colleagues here very disappointed um not only as a commissioner but as a parent as well. I have a daughter who takes the bus and she's constantly late for school or either coming home. Uh but
057I thank you for your commitments here to Waterbury. But I do have a question about the app now. Would that work with um dropping students off at the wrong stop? Because that is a big issue here. A lot of students are getting dropped off at the wrong stops and the buses are just leaving and leaving them there. What is the process if a student says to the bus driver, "This is not this isn't my stop and they still get off." >> Yeah. The process should be obviously that we have the route sheets currently today in the bus with the students listed by age by by stop and if the once the driver is obviously familiar with the children they can associate the legal custody or parent or guardians at the stops. If they don't know,
058then they will make that exchange or should make that exchange right there at the bus stop with recognizing them, having them approach the door of the bus, not get on the bus, but approach the door so that they can make sure that they show proof of custody. If a child claims that they do not recognize the neighborhood, and that does happen, or they don't know where they're at or they just recently moved, that's when we obviously would stay pulled over. We would call into our dispatch office and then call either central office. So we would look up in our database as well and try to simultaneously make contact with the parents andor through administration simultaneously both of us trying to reach them so that we can make sure we make that handoff appropriately. >> Okay.
059>> In the future state with the next year's technology we will actually have that app flowing in the vehicle in the tablet which will be accessible right there to the driver lifetime. So it'll be more integrated immediately to your systems. So it won't be older data. It'll be whatever the last import was 24 48 hours. Uh and it'll always be maintained and kept up. So it'll be a greater tool immediately accessible to the driver. It's going to be, you know, obviously greater safety reference point. But but in every case, any uncertainty, the answer is always to pull over, secure the vehicle, and call dispatch. And we will support them in any way we can. Okay. Well, I'm just I am really looking forward and hoping that you know that you do stand up and hold
060true to your commitments. Our children deserve to be brought back to brought to school and brought back home safely. And we know that there's problems do arise sometimes, you know, with the traffic, but it's just the two hours coming home late or even the three hours and some of them are young children. So, we're just looking forward. I'm not happy. I really don't want to say yes to the contract to be honest, but you know that is Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Well, thank you for being here tonight. I think you've heard the board's comments and I think we're looking forward to uh a really a much more robust professional uh busing company to work with. have a designated person make sure we're foreseeing problems before they start we all these problems should be
061laid out as as Tom had said all the you should be looking ahead if this happens what do we do if this happens what would we do so I I think we've got the strategic power here tonight so we're hoping that um we can count on you to be part of our school district this isn't just a bus company I think we're all saying these we want people who feel part of our school district who love our children as much as we do who care about the parents and I know it's a job but working with human beings is different it's not you're not dealing with factory parts uh and kids get scared kids get nervous and I think uh that that should be part of the training you human development uh but I think
062most of the bus drivers I'm familiar with are really good people and love the kids and do a great job. So, we're looking forward to uh a much improved uh system. Uh Dr. Schwarz, >> sure. Just one last comment. I think that we heard uniformly from the board. uh we'll plan for something for August for an update on where we've made with progress because it's it's end of May now and um as this as this contract takes effect in July um we'll give you some time in terms of early August for a direct update on your progress and then after that I would get we'll come up with a plan for a monthly update until we feel like it's time to possibly go quarterly at that point. And I think we're at that at that
063stage from what I'm hearing from the board. So, we'll start in August and move forward with that. And I I would just end with, you know, it's there's already a lot of stress in our community. There's a lot of stress on parents, a lot of stress on children. Um, we shouldn't be adding to that. You know, that's some of our students who rely on you to be the consistency. Sometimes in an inconsistent world, you have to make the choice. Are you going to add to the inconsistency in some of our children's lives? Are you going to be that consistent person, that bus driver that shows up consistently for them when maybe other things aren't consistent in their life? Not all our kids are. Some of our kids have that consistency every single day, but some
064of them don't. And um we want you to I think to your point, President, you know, that human development aspect of what you provide is really important. get them off started on the right foot and I'll just you know from the teachers who have to stay later because the bus hasn't showed up puts more stress on them and now they're they're upset from the administrators now who had to stay later it just a cycle right and so that we want to be able to look back and I'll be your if you change it around I'll be your biggest cheerleader I think everybody here will be if you could turn it around um we expect you to because we're we're having you vote on the contract for this and if the board votes affirmatively on the
065contract. That's what we all expect you to do. And I think uh to end it with what Commissioner Van Stone said, for the critics, prove them wrong. And for the people like Commissioner Jackson, who's had a better relationship, prove a right. >> Well, thank you very much for coming tonight. >> Thank you very much. >> I have a motion to adjurnn. >> Motion to second. >> All in favor? Opposed? Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you. >> You're welcome.