A row of Westfield school buses line the parking lot of Lecrenski Brothers, Inc. (File photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – Questions about the rules regarding disciplining school bus drivers has been a topic of numerous emails and calls to The Westfield News lately.
Several callers have stated that there is a problem with the disciplinary aspects of the job, mainly that there is no protocol.
The concerned callers, which include disgruntled drivers, claim there is no option for defending oneself when there is a complaint about a driver. They said if there is a problem reported to the school transportation department, drivers are fired without any explanation or opportunity to discuss the issue.
“You should be able to talk, and we don’t get to talk to anybody. A teacher isn’t treated this way, a custodian isn’t treated this way . . . why are we treated this way?” said one driver who asked to remain anonymous because she fears for her job.
Resident John Carbin was a bus driver in the city for 10 years. He said that he was also constantly worried about his job security.
“There have been countless times when drivers would be disqualified (fired) by Westfield Public Schools. I don’t miss the pressure of not knowing if my number is up. For me it was always the other guy that got fired by the school department, I am fortunate?” he said. “It would be nice and honorable of the city of Westfield / Westfield Public Schools treated school bus drivers fairly or justly, but that’s just not the case. Absolute power corrupts, and if you have that power you certainly aren’t going to give it up with out a fight.”
One email was from a person who said she has two children who ride the bus in Westfield and she is concerned for the drivers.
“I have a major concern about the working pressure our school bus drivers have to perform under that is being created by the school department’s transportation director and superintendent of schools. I too tried to talk to my school bus driver that picks up my children and tried to ask if the problem does exist about always worrying about losing their job for making a mistake while driving their route and for any minor or even a larger issue that might have occurred and the driver did the same thing to me by shaking their head in a yes gesture and would not talk about it. Citizens of Westfield this should not be happening to these bus drivers because they are transporting precious cargo and not freight,” she wrote. “The school department should not have that kind of power over our drivers without due process.”
School buses in the city are provided by Lecrenski Brothers, Inc. Lecrenski hires and trains drivers. However, the contract they have with Westfield allows for the release of drivers by the School Committee or its designee.
“The School Committee and or its designee reserves the right to accept or reject any and/or all drivers, if it is deemed in the best interest of the City of Westfield to do so,” states the language of a contract document.
Several residents and drivers said this is a major area of concern.
“There should be policies in place as to the disciplinary action taken to the bus driver, and the driver definitely should be able to explain his or her side of the story and not just take the word of the parent or teacher and especially a student who could easily make up a story to get the driver removed because the student may have been written up in the past,” stated one email.
According to the bid contract, “any and all complaints from parents or pupils made to drivers relative to transportation are to be reported to the Contractor who will report same to the Director of Transportation for investigation and/or action.”
It further states “violations by a driver of these regulations, the rules and regulations of the School Committee, and/or General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will subject said driver to dismissal from the employment under this contract upon the recommendation of the Superintendent of Schools or his/her designee. A driver’s continued employment by the company or Contractor, however, remains at said company’s or Contractor’s discretion.”
Carbin said drivers do make mistakes, but they should be given a chance to defend themselves.
“There is no denying that drivers make and will make mistakes. The position that Westfield public schools takes only compounds the problem,” he stated. “Not only are you worried about making mistakes, saying the wrong thing to a student and watching your back. You also have to consider if an issue arises on your bus do you want to tell someone or just ignore it? I suggest under the current regime drivers should ignore and pretend it never happened. If you do bring it up you are risking your job.”
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, who serves as chairman of the School Committee, said much of the recent vocal disapproval from drivers, he believes, stems from a recent incident where a driver was fired. He also said drivers are terminated based on the severity of the complaint and it’s not as simple as some people are stating.
“The school department was made aware of a very serious infraction and exercised its right to terminate that employee,” he said, adding that “my advice to the Lecrenski family is if they do not like the terms of the contract, don’t bid on that contract.”
Lecrenski Brothers won the transportation contract with a bid of $10,189,248 for five years, from July 1, 2011-June 30, 2016.
A peaceful protest is planned by drivers for Monday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
