Framingham Councilor King Tries to Upend Solution to Late Bus Problem

Every parent in Framingham should be upset that City Councilor George King is trying to override the sound judgement of the Superintendent, Bob Tremblay, the Executive Director of Finance & Operations, Lincoln Lynch, and the School Committee as they pursue a promising in-house solution to the late bus problem. The suggestion by King that the school department and the School Committee have not done due diligence on the best way to solve the late bus problem is an outrage.

At the City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, the following agenda item was discussed:

"ORDER 2024-077-001

Upon request of the Finance Subcommittee, a recommendation regarding a contract

for school bus services.

FY26 School Department Bus Update FSC CC SC.pdf"

School district contracts of 3 years duration or less don't need City Council approval, but this contract has a 5 year term which automatically triggered a requirement for City Council approval.

The School Committee is charged by state law with looking after our children and their education. It has worked hard pursuing every possible solution to make sure our kids get to school on time and now has settled on bringing the bus service in house, so it can control all aspects of the busing operation and ensure we have 72 drivers to drive the 72 buses needed to get kids to school on time, rather than the 53 we have now.

The School Committee voted unanimously on March 20, 2024, to bring the school bus operation in house starting in the 2025-2026 school year. They are now following up on implementing that in house plan.

The late bus problem has gone on for several years, as all parents of school age children are aware.

The school bus driver shortage became a chronic problem when kids returned to school early in 2021, after almost a year of remote education caused by the pandemic. Many drivers had left the profession due to the lack of work during that first pandemic year, creating a national shortage.

However, while neighboring communities like Marlborough and Hudson made progress on their bus driver shortage by raising the bus driver hourly pay rate to $34, the current Framingham city administration dragged its feet on pay increases and then, in a costly contract renegotiation with NRT, the bus company, only upped the driver pay to $31/hour. Relations with NRT have soured and there is now no hope of any improvement in the bus service.

Multiple articles have been published on this issue by this author and others, but the best summary of the situation and why in-house busing is a necessary step, is shown in this video of School Committee Member Adam Freudberg at a City Council meeting on January 30, 2024:

Framingham School Committee Member Adam Freudberg Gets the Facts Totally Right on School Busing

That was almost a year ago!

For more than a year the school department and School Committee have worked the problem, considering all aspects. The Executive Director of Finance & Operations, Lincoln Lynch is widely recognized as an outstanding financial professional in the Framingham Public Schools and he has been at the center of all the analysis and considerations.

It is a travesty that George King can dismiss all the effort and expertise that has gone into the school district’s effort to solve its most important problem.

School Committee Member Tiffany Maskell captured the reality very well in the School Committee meeting on the following day, December 4, 2024, with her impassioned response to King’s attempt to derail the deal. Her tongue lashing applies not only to King, but also his supporting lieutenants: Councilors Cannon and Leombruno:

Tiffanie Maskell's Impassioned Reaction to King's Opposition to the Late Bus Solution

At the City Council meeting on December 3, 2024, Superintendent Bob Tremblay defended the in-house busing decision with skill and passion:

Framingham Superintendent Bob Tremblay Explains the Urgency Of a Solution to the Late Bus Problem

In his comments, Bob Tremblay noted that Worcester Public Schools had the same type of chronic driver shortages that Framingham Public School has endured, and they successfully moved their bus operation in house. They now have a full complement of drivers and kids get to school on time.

Nonetheless, George went ahead and blocked the City Council vote, showing no appreciation at all for the crisis late buses have caused, the great deal of effort and skill the school department and School Committee have put into forging a sound solution, and the enormous relief this would bring to our beleaguered students.

Although on December 3, George King successfully blocked the City Council vote to enable in-house busing, the vote will be taken at an upcoming City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, and it may narrowly pass. George will almost certainly vote NO, along with City Councilor Mike Cannon, who is well known for his negative attitude towards the Superintendent and the schools.

Where King and Cannon go, so Janet Leombruno will follow, so there is another likely NO vote.

The final City Council vote in support of the school district in-house busing contract may end up being 6-5 or 7-4, or it could fail, which would be a disaster for our kids and their education.

It is critically important that every parent in the city let the City Council know, and George King in particular, that kids matter in this city, and they deserve a school system which can get them to school on time.

It remains a matter of high concern that George King is acting in such an adverse manner to the school district. As an At-Large City Councilor, he should bring a broad perspective to his service and understand the critical importance of education for our kids and how we cannot keep failing them and doing nothing about it.

George's children grew up in Framingham and when they went to school, the buses ran on time. Our children deserve the same level of bus service his children received.

He should wake up and start doing the job he was elected to do, not run interference on good plays by the Framingham Public Schools.

Notes

1. All parents should email City Councilors in support of the efforts of the school district to solve its highest priority problem, and make sure that next Fall all Framingham children arrive at school on time. City Councilor email addresses may be found at: City Councilors
2. Parents can also make public comments in support of the schools at the next City Council meeting on December 10, 2024, at 7pm when they will vote on this issue. Attendance can be in person or on Zoom.
3. The agenda of the City Council meeting has not been posted yet, but when it is, this author will provide an update with a link to that agenda which will include the Zoom link.
4. The Nobscot community should also note that the three City Councilors causing trouble here: King, Cannon and Leombruno, are the same three who would like to visit unconstrained high density housing on their rural village and flood the schools with 400-600 students. These Councilors simply don’t support the schools in Framingham when it really counts.