The pressure brought on by an economic crisis twists, distorts, and reshapes the familiar landscape of life as we know and like it. It is not just that it has deflated the airy bubbles of hope and expectation that percolate up from easy money, it is pressing down on the core structures of our lives. In the most extreme cases where people have lost their livelihoods and perhaps even their homes, families and individuals begin to break down. We do not have to look far for examples of this, and when we see it, it is frightening and sad. It makes us extra vigilant for possible threats on our own horizons. So we instinctively understood the alarm and consternation that spread quickly when the Board of Education signaled that it was reviewing bids on a $1.7 million package of transportation services with an eye toward economizing.

The “lowest cost solution,” according to Superintendent of School Janet Robinson, would be a combination of services involving MTM, a locally owned fleet of buses and vans that operates in close coordination with Newtown independent owner/operators, and All Star Transportation, LLC, of Torrington. The award of any transportation contract to an out-of-town firm would mark a sharp departure from Newtown’s longstanding tradition of relying on local drivers to transport its schoolchildren.

The sharp reaction to this possibility earned the school board criticism not only from the local owner/operators, but from parents who have come to know and trust the local drivers over the years. In a packed meeting room on April 7, the local bus drivers told the Board of Education that it was tampering with one of those core structures that sets Newtown apart from other towns, where kids are driven to school by strangers who have no stake in either the buses they drive or the town they serve.

Given the fiscal limitations placed on the school district in the proposed budget this year, it is only prudent to consider all options for a $1.7 million contract. Imagine the outcry if any other town agency tried to award a non-competitive contract of that size. Before it awards any contract, however, the Board of Education needs to assess what it will get for the money. We doubt it would ever seriously consider ridding the schools of veteran teachers in favor replacements fresh out of college just to save money. There are qualitative considerations also at stake in the transportation system. Schoolchildren, after all, are at more risk on the bus ride to and from school than they are at any other time during the school day. Addressing and mitigating that risk involves more than rooting around for the lowest bid at the bottom of the bidding barrel.

There is no such thing as easy money these days, so when it comes time to spend it, we need to make sure we are getting full value for every dollar spent. This is particularly important even for families facing the most pressure in this faltering economy. There is enough trouble to worry about without taking the kids to the bus stop only to find more trouble there.