West Bloomfield Moving Forward with Privatization of Bus Drivers, Custodians

The West Bloomfield School Board discussed outsourcing busing and custodial services in front of about 50 employees Tuesday night after hearing last week that could save an estimated $5.7 million over three years by contracting such services.

Two companies were interviewed last week that potentially would manage bus drivers, custodians and other workers in the district.

In an era of balancing budget woes — West Bloomfield School District has an estimated fund balance of less than $1 million this year — with community needs, the board and administration discussed outsourcing at its meeting Tuesday at

"I think the time has come for this kind of decision as a result of the district having less than a 2 percent fund balance at this time," Superintendent JoAnn Andrees said.

Trustee David Einstandig said he recalled a similar bid process three to five years ago, to seek the cost savings of privatizing transportation and custodial employees, but the savings weren't there to justify the "drastic measure."

According to Deputy Superintendent Thomas Goulding, one of the changes since then has been a climbing mandatory growth in employee pension rate, which is 24 percent, while state aid has been reduced by $729 per pupil since the 2008 school year.

Although the board has not formally chosen to outsource those positions, six interviews with contractors took place April 11-12 by a team consisting of board members, administration, supervisors, parents and lawyers. Contract implementation is scheduled for July 1.

Benefits of safety, longevity being considered

The district employs 62 in its transportation department, for which the board received four bids and conducted two interviews — with Durham School Services and First Student. The privatization of the district's custodians would cover about 42 employees, for which the board received five bids and conducted four interviews. Board members said they could not identify a "favorite."

However, several board members mentioned the decision could not solely be based on potential savings, rather, a consideration for longtime employees had to be considered as well. Andrees said every contractor interviewed said they wanted to interview every employee who would be laid off.

"The goal is to attempt to re-employ as many of our employees as possible," Goulding said. "I can't say they'd all be offered, I'm saying, that's the goal."

Indeed, Goulding said, disadvantages to the proposal included the need to re-establish relationships between the school and community, as well as employee displacement and morale. He spoke to concerns of of student safety in the presence of potentially unfamiliar staff: "Many of the questions which I asked during interviewed, we want to know who we're hiring and where they're coming from," Goulding said.

Board President Bruce Tobin said that although the district would not be administering such requirements as fingerprinting and criminal background checks as it currently does, the district's standards would continue to be met and the district would have the right to ask its contractor to remove an employee at its discretion.

Right now, there are several services that operate on school grounds in the district that are contracted with private companies, including skilled trades, snow removal, nonemployee athletic and co-curricular positions and substitutes.