Bus drivers' union raises routing, staffing and training concerns; district says it is meeting to resolve issues

The president of Dayton Public Schools' school bus drivers' union told the board the transportation operation has persistent problems with route design, staffing and driver training and asked the district to fix them quickly.

Marie Arwin, who identified herself as president of Local 627 (school bus driver union), told the board the department has route overlaps, incorrect pickup-side assignments, frequent time changes that remove drivers' pre-trip inspection time and poor notice to drivers and families when routes change. She said drivers were asked to begin some routes without the statutorily required pre-trip time and that route vetting the union requested in July had not been completed.

Arwin provided route counts and staffing figures and said they reveal planning issues: 107 initially planned routes, 14 additional "extra board" routes (for a total she referenced as 121 routes), and 154 drivers as of August; she said some overlap and incorrect routing remain. She said some routes require drivers to finish one run at 4:40 a.m./p.m. and begin another run minutes later, creating untenable schedules, and said drivers often did not receive timely notice when route sheets were changed.

The union president also raised concerns about training and equipment for transporting students with special needs. She said drivers have requested professional development on safely handling students who require harnesses or other supports and that the district has not fully delivered that training. Arwin said drivers sometimes encounter students who present behaviors on buses similar to those in buildings and need additional tools and training to de-escalate situations safely.

Arwin also said many transportation staff lacked working badge access to the Service Building and that management staff were not consistently present at that location. She said the union continues to declare "no confidence" in unspecified management personnel over unresolved issues.

District officials acknowledged some problems and said they are meeting regularly with transportation staff and union representatives to address them. Assistant superintendent and operations staff said they hold weekly meetings to try to resolve routing and staffing issues; one administrator said transportation covered more than 150 field trips this fall and noted that only one route remained uncovered at a recent point. The district said it is working on routing fixes, hiring and assigning additional staff as needed, and coordinating with managers to improve communication with drivers and families.

No formal board action was taken; board members asked for the union's routing documentation to be forwarded to administrators for review and asked staff to follow up on outstanding action items.

"We came into it where it's a solution that did not be resolved," Arwin said, summarizing the union's view. Board members asked administrators to accelerate fixes and to bring specific answers back to the board.