Smithfield bus drivers warn merger with Lincoln routes will erase seniority, raise safety concerns

Smithfield — Longtime town school bus drivers told the council May 19 that a planned consolidation of Smithfield and Lincoln bus yards under First Student will strip Smithfield employees of seniority, cost local families hours or jobs and create safety and response-time risks.

"We will immediately lose all our seniority," said Dina Howard, a 26‑year Smithfield bus driver and lifelong resident, testifying during public comment. "Our most senior driver has 42 years in this town. Under this merger she suddenly falls to number 87 on the seniority list." Howard said the change could affect "40 to 45 families in the town of Smithfield."

Howard said drivers know Smithfield roads and students and that longer travel times, broken-down buses and unfamiliar drivers on difficult roads such as Log Road could make daily runs less safe. "If our buses aren't kept in Lincoln, we will be completely dependent on another town's schedule," she said, describing longer response times to breakdowns and increased costs for field trips and athletics.

Another driver, Kristen, told the council First Student considers Lincoln employees existing hires and Smithfield workers new hires, which would place Lincoln staff ahead in route bidding. She said past company transitions were smoother when Smithfield stayed a separate operating unit.

Council members and the town solicitor emphasized limits on the council's authority. "The jurisdiction for the award of that contract lies with the schools committee," the solicitor told the chamber before public comment, saying the council cannot cancel a school-committee award and that residents should attend the school committee meeting to be heard.

Members of the audience and public speakers reported meeting with First Student earlier that day and said Lincoln currently employs about 86 workers who would be allowed to bid first; Smithfield drivers said their Teamsters contract ends June 30 and raised concerns about how their terms would be handled in forthcoming negotiations.

Councilors urged drivers and residents to take their concerns to the school committee, which has procurement authority over transportation contracts. No formal council action to alter the contract was offered at the meeting; councilors moved an unrelated agenda item on the bus contract up for discussion so the public could speak earlier in the night.

What happens next: Councilors said the school committee will meet separately on the transportation contract; drivers were urged to attend that meeting and to seek information from the school department and union representatives.

Sources: Public comment at the Smithfield Town Council meeting, May 19, 2026, including testimony from Dina Howard and Kristen.