Bus Company To No Longer Provide Transportation For South Allegheny School District
GLASSPORT (KDKA) -- A school bus company is cutting ties with the South Allegheny School District.
Sun Coach Lines says the school district is hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
The school bus company says the South Allegheny School District owes upwards of $800,000.
But South Allegheny says they don't owe that much and believes they're entitled to a pay less when little or no services were provided.
In a press release, the school district says the news came to them without any notice ahead of time.
With the money they got from COVID-19 funding, Sun Coach Lines believes the district could have kept paying them through the pandemic struggles - but the district says the money was never earmarked for transportation services.
It's a lot of back-and-forth.
But the most pressing issue -- until the school district can find other means of transportation for its students, starting Monday, students will have to find their own way to school.
"We tried to wear the white hat. We went back. We provided services in September. We didn't get paid, we got paid a fraction of what they were obligated to pay, and we kept going for the benefit of the kids and the benefit of the parents. We can't do it any longer. We're losing drivers who don't get paid because we don't get paid," said Ray Middleman, attorney for Sun Coach Lines.
KDKA reached out to South Allegheny School District, but has not heard back yet.
The district was set to resume in-person learning on Monday, but will now be returning to plans for virtual learning.
The district is hoping to reach an agreement soon.