Invested In The Community
Invested In The Community
To the Editor:
I donât know Carey Schierloh, but sheâs obviously a smart woman based on what I read in The Bee last week. According to the article, Ms Schierloh, a school bus owner/operator in Newtown, and others have identified a quarter-million dollars in transportation savings to the school district, which really means the taxpayers.
Bravo, Ms Schierloh, and thank you. Iâm left wondering why the school districtâs transportation director and two transportation assistants didnât find the savings, first.
Maybe theyâre not invested in this community quite like Ms Schierloh and the other drivers who rightly worry the school administration and Board of Education are plotting to bus them out of town.
Ms Schierloh and the other drivers spent a lot of money on their buses under the pretense they would continue to have a job. It seemed like a smart investment. Newtown has embraced an owner/operator bus system for as long as anyone can remember. Thankfully and wisely, previous administrations have opted not to contract with a faceless bus company like All-Star Transportation, which by evidence of its driver strike in New Milford two years ago is more concerned about money than providing safe and reliable transportation to children.
I wonder if any of the All-Star drivers or managers would have rolled up their sleeves like Ms. Schierloh and scoured the school budget for savings, essentially taking money out of their own pockets. Better yet, would they have hastily agreed to accept a pay freeze to help the taxpayers like the owner/operators did? Thatâs probably against union rules.
The owner/operators and we parents who put our children in their care every day deserve nothing more than a promise from the school board and administration that no company will steal jobs from people like Ms Schierloh, who put the community and children first.
Will the first brave person on the school board or in the central office please stand up?
Respectfully,
Chris Gardner
4 Mt Pleasant Terrace, Newtown                                April 10, 2009