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Sachem board hears complaints about late buses; administration says liquidated damages may be applied
Summary
Parents and board members reported repeated late and overcrowded bus runs in the early weeks of school; administrators said they have added routes, are working with Orange County and other contractors, and are compiling incidents to pursue liquidated damages under vendor contracts.
Parents and board members pressed administrators on recurring transportation problems at the Sept. 25 meeting of the Sachem Central School District Board of Education.
Multiple speakers described routes arriving late in the third week of school, with particular trouble on routes arriving at Cayuga and Grundy. A board member said the district received many emails documenting late or missed runs and that social media complaints without identifying details hinder responses.
Michelle Sarakis (transportation contact referenced in the meeting) said the district convened a Zoom meeting with Orange County and that an initial grace period was provided for new routes and drivers. “Now we’re in the third week,” she said, and if a route remains late the district will split routes and add buses to address the domino effect of late departures. Sarakis described differences in vendor billing models and warned that route splits can increase cost because of different hourly or per‑day billing structures.
On vendor accountability, administrators said they are compiling emails, dates and routes to assess late and no‑show incidents with the intent to apply contract remedies. “We are looking at liquidated damages now,” an administrator said, noting district payments are being reconciled before applying any chargebacks to vendor invoices.
Board members asked whether some drivers were originally coming in from other counties and whether the district now had local drivers; administration replied that drivers are now local in many cases but that a shortage of drivers statewide contributed to early problems. The district said it had added routes that would start during the week to relieve overloaded runs and that parents should continue to report problems to the district rather than only on social media.
The board did not take a formal vote on transportation measures at the meeting, but members said they will monitor vendor performance and expect follow‑up reports from administration and transportation staff.
