Schools must learn from the record of the previous bus company
Used to be, the school buses your children ride in were owned and operated by the school boards that oversee the schools. Today, in Huntsville and some other communities, though not all, bus service is contracted. Such outsourcing must carry with it two conditions:
The company that provides school bus service must comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws.
In addition, the terms of the contract under which the firm operates have to be strictly enforced, even if it means terminating the contract for noncompliance.
These obvious conclusions arise from a Sunday article in The Times about Laidlaw Transit, the Georgia company that formerly had the contract for city school bus service.
It had that contract, in fact, on Nov. 20, 2006, the day a Laidlaw bus plunged off Interstate 565. Four Lee High students were killed in the crash and more than two dozen were injured. Numerous lawsuits have resulted, but the Madison County district attorney’s office found no grounds for criminal charges.
But also on that day - Nov. 20, 2006 - Laidlaw had failed to do something it was supposed to do. It had failed to conduct background checks on 73 of the 116 drivers on its payroll.
Among the 73 was Anthony Tyrone Scott, 45, the driver of the ill-fated Lee bus, who had an arrest record.
In fact, city school officials say they were unaware of Laidlaw’s failure to do the background checks. That failure would seem to mean, at least to a layman, that Laidlaw was clearly in violation of its contract with the city board.
Since then, Laidlaw has been replaced by Durham School Services of Illinois. Durham won the contract early this year by virtue of submitting the lowest bid.
Meanwhile, driver Scott has had further run-ins with the law. Last month, he was arrested on charges of receiving stolen property and theft of services.
Officials note, however, that even if Scott had been the subject of a background check in 2006, he may not have been disqualified as a driver. In addition, his record of arrests before November 2006 - marijuana possession, disorderly conduct, burglary and criminal mischief - possibly had no bearing on the 2006 bus accident.
The lawsuits in the crash have been aimed at Laidlaw, Scott himself and the driver of the car that collided with the bus on the elevated portion of I-565 on the day of the crash.
Putting all that aside, Laidlaw, which had provided bus service to city schools since 1993, should have complied with the terms of its contract, and city school employees should have made sure the firm was complying.
(In January, when the city bus contract went to Durham, not to Laidlaw, a school system official said the system had received good service from Laidlaw over the years. It’s not clear if he was aware of the firm’s record on background checks. But good service? No.)
Heavier burden
Providing essential government services under contract imposes on the private entity a burden of conduct that might not be required under other circumstances. And it imposes on public agencies the necessity for maintaining strict oversight, the same oversight that would be required if the service were provided by the agency itself.
If such arrangements are deemed necessary or desirable, or both, they must be done right.
