Bus Service Upsets Lyons Township High

LA GRANGE, IL – For a third year, Lyons Township High School officials are expressing unhappiness with the school's bus service.

They are now talking about whether the bus company, First Student, is the "only game in town." The school has not gone out to bid for the contract since 2005, they said.

On Thursday, a spokeswoman for Cincinnati-based First Student said the company's on-time performance is 94 percent in the morning, except for late-start Wednesdays. But she confirmed it is having issues in the afternoon.

At Tuesday's school board meeting, Superintendent Brian Waterman said most of the issues are with South Campus.

Last Monday, nine buses left after 3:55 p.m., according to the school. Class lets out at 3:05 p.m.

On Tuesday, six buses left after 3:55 p.m.

"Wednesday was fantastic. We had no buses leave late. We speculate that our feeder schools had an early dismissal day, so all the drivers and buses were available," Waterman said.

On Thursday and Friday, five and four buses left after 3:55 p.m., respectively, Waterman said.

"That's a little bit of progress, but it doesn't mitigate the fact we have significant concerns and we have communicated that repeatedly to First Student," the superintendent said.

Meanwhile, morning arrivals have been "generally positive," except on late-start Wednesday last week, he said. That day, 10 of the 27 buses arrived late, he said.

In response, First Student blamed a stalled train in La Grange, Waterman said.

"So, in theory, if that was the issue that caused it, we should see some progress tomorrow," he said.

(The school reported Friday a 30 percent improvement in Wednesday's bus arrivals, compared with a week earlier. Through a spokeswoman, Waterman said that is a good sign, but more work needs to be done.)

Waterman promised the school would continue to express its frustrations with First Student.

Board member Jill Grech asked whether First Student was still the "only game in town."

"We believe that," Waterman replied. "We're going to do a little research on that this fall. We have believed that forever."

Member Tim Albores said it's worth discussing whether the school has other options for bus service.

"My daughter walked home today 3½ miles and beat the bus just about," he said.

Waterman said the district had "grace" for the bus company during the pandemic because of the national shortage of drivers.

But he said the school has an "expiration" on that grace, which "needs to happen in the next couple of months."

School board President Dawn Aubert said students are getting to class up to 12 minutes late.

"That's a significant loss in instruction time," she said.

In a statement to Patch, First Student spokeswoman Jen Biddinger said a need still exists in the Chicago area for bus drivers, with her company raising starting wages to $23 an hour and offering $5,000 sign-on bonuses.

She said afternoon routes are affected by a few factors, including staffing.

"Our Hodgkins location serves multiple school districts," Biddinger said. "Routes are paired between these districts to be as cost-effective and efficient as possible."

First Student serves the high school first each morning, except on late-start Wednesdays. The company, Biddinger said, is looking at how it pairs routes on Wednesday mornings to improve service.

"In the afternoon, Lyons Township High School routes are run after another district, which can affect timeliness," she said. "Schedules are being affected by traffic and construction."

As for staffing, Biddinger said, "We do have candidates in various stages of training and hope to add them to routes soon."