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Local CDL school owner tells court Reentry program reimbursements delayed; seeks timely payments
Summary
A local commercial driving school owner, Delbert Crawford, told the Commissioners Court his company has trained reentry students through a county program but has not received reimbursement, leaving the small business carrying payroll and expenses.
At the public‑comment portion of Tuesday’s Commissioners Court, Delbert Crawford, owner of Change Lane CDL School, told the court his company has 15 students enrolled through the county’s Reentry program — a service billed at $4,150 per student — and that the school has not received any reimbursement to date.
Crawford said the total services delivered to date amount to more than $62,000 and that his business is carrying associated payroll and operating costs while county reimbursements are delayed. He described training interruptions when students missed classes or failed tests, equipment breakdowns and canceled sessions due to weather, and said his staff continued training despite those challenges. "We're funding the promise of second chances with no guarantees, no follow‑up, and no respect," Crawford told the court.
Crawford said he sent a formal email to the court on May 29 and had not received a substantive reply, that bid materials did not specify payment terms, and that he was the only respondent to the second posting of the bid. He said he would not have bid if he had known county payment timing and urged the court to address the reimbursement process.
County staff told Crawford a review of the contract shows provisions related to payment and participant completion; Judge Brown’s chief of staff, Kate Garza, offered to meet with him after the meeting. The court did not take immediate formal action during public comment; staff agreed to follow up and meet with Crawford and court staff after the meeting.
