Letter to the Editor: Outsourcing Transportation Shouldn't Be Only Option

The following letter comes from Fred G. Martin of Concord.

Dear School Committee members, Dr. Rigby, and Mr. Flaherty,

I attended and spoke at .

At the meeting, myself along with every one of the citizens who spoke, as well as the CCRSD transportation employees who spoke, urged you to please investigate a solution for our town that does not involve outsourcing.

Mr. Flaherty, in your remarks, you stated that the impending removal of the transportation depot, which is a consequence of the new , was the "overwhelming catalyst" for the outsourcing plan.

But from the information that was presented, in the outsourcing design, school buses would still be housed on CCRSD premises (they would be distributed amongst various school lots), and the outsourced company would have a repair van. The contracted company would NOT be providing a replacement depot. Also, two administrative personnel, which would be hired by the contracted company, would be housed in CCRSD facilities.

I fail to see why we could not operate such a solution ourselves, without needing to outsource.

People who spoke raised a number of concerns, including a false economy of outsourcing, as the company who received the contract necessarily would not have a long term investment in maintaining our equipment, the lack of flexibility in service that would necessarily ensue, and the integrity of the submitted bids (only two of 12 companies who attended the open bid information session actually submitted bids).

From the information that was presented, it did not seem that a devoted effort was made to find an alternate solution to outsourcing. When a question was asked about alternate facilities within the town, Mr. Flaherty, you indicated that the Town was asked if it had spare capacity at the Keyes Road facilities, and when the answer was no, that was the end of the discussion. During the meeting, a citizen suggested that a concerted effort be made to find commercial property that could be leased. I would ask you to please follow up on this idea.

At the meeting, I was emotionally moved by the devotion and literal lifetime commitment that has been made by many of our town employees to the well-being of our children, including one person who has been driving buses for more than 40 years.

As a parent said, it would be (at the least) an "embarrassment" for our Town to dismiss them to interview for jobs at a contracting company that, if they were hired, would not be committed to their job satisfaction and well-being the way that we have for so many years.

At the meeting, Mr. Fischelis, you lamented that it was a "sign of our times" that decent, long-term, honorable work is being converted into outsourced jobs.

But this only happens when those of us in charge make it happen.

The overriding message from myself and the rest of the citizens who spoke at the meeting is that we would urge you to please, please try to find a solution to the loss of the transportation depot that does not involve outsourcing.

Thank you for your service to the Town of Concord.

Yours sincerely,

Fred Martin
Main Street,
Concord