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Marple Newtown bus drivers tell board low morale follows ban on internal 50/50 fundraising
Summary
School bus drivers told the board they transported more than 3,600 students twice daily, operate a fleet of 97 vehicles, and want clarity after district officials said their internal 50/50 raffle violated policy while larger public raffles continued at school events.
Jim Farrell, a Marple Newtown school bus driver and district resident, told the board at the April 22 meeting that transportation staff morale is low after the district prohibited an internally run weekly 50/50 raffle that employees used to fund small morale events.
“We transport over 3,600 students twice a day,” Farrell said during public comment. He detailed the department’s scale: “we are a staff of a 25 drivers and aids, a fleet of 42 full size buses, 9 mid size buses, 30 micro buses, and 16 student vans. That's 97 vehicles in all.”
Farrell said the drivers previously funded small events such as pretzel Thursdays and a year-end party through a weekly 50/50 in which only transportation employees could participate and only employees could win. He said transportation staff were told that the 50/50 “was against school policy and that no such small games of chance are permitted within the Marple Newtown School District.”
Farrell contrasted that direction with a recent school “fun fair” where raffle tickets were sold to the public and “over 60 raffle prizes” were offered. He said the fun fair raffle allowed anyone to purchase tickets and win prizes, while drivers’ internal 50/50 fundraising was prohibited. He asked the board for clarification about the policy and for direction on whether the drivers could reinstate their internal 50/50 to support morale.
Special-needs bus aide Ron Burling, also at the microphone, supported the call for action and urged the district to provide trained points of contact and processes to address student behavior and safety concerns on buses.
Board members acknowledged the comments and thanked the drivers for their work. The transcript does not record an immediate policy change; the drivers’ request for explicit direction was left for the district to address after the meeting.
Clarifying details from public comment
• Driver-stated student transport load: “over 3,600 students twice a day.”
• Fleet described by speaker: 42 full-size buses, 9 mid-size buses, 30 micro buses, 16 student vans (97 vehicles total).
