Howard County bus drivers in limbo after board of education taps new transportation company
BALTIMORE -- The future for hundreds of Howard County bus drivers is up in the air after the county's board of education awarded school routes to a California contractor.
School bus drivers in Howard County have been facing a variety of challenges since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, such as pay raise issues and difficulties retaining drivers.
One of their latest struggles surfaced after the school board was approached for additional money to cover the costs of those drivers. The school board opted to go with an out-of-state company instead, which has put hundreds of jobs at risk.
The board awarded a contract to a company called Zum Services.
Jared Defibaugh, the owner of Blue Horizons transportation company, described the situation as frustrating.
There are 288 bus routes in the county. The existing contractor will maintain 58 of those routes while the new contractor, Zum Services, will run 230 of the routes.
That leaves about 400 local bus drivers with an uncertain, Defibaugh said.
"We are in the dark," he said. "We have no idea where we are running next year, what schools, what zones."
Parents protested the decision during a public hearing with the board on Thursday.
They called on the board to reverse its decision.
"Our kids are going to have to walk over a mile and a half to school," parent Darla Slade said when discussing potential bus route problems.
Bus drivers want answers from the board, too.
"All the drivers are on edge because we don't know what our future holds," bus driver Jackie Scott said.
The board will vote on whether to cancel its local contracts in June.