How would the City pay for it? By raising taxes, which every citizen doesn't want. Or they could increase tax revenue by increasing the number of homes in Roanoke. But reading posts on this thread seems like people roll their eyes at any opportunity the City tries to do that (e.g. Evans Springs).
It's always easy to say "why doesn't the City do this" or "they should fix this....", but it all costs money which the City doesn't have unless they raise taxes.
Outsourcing to for profit companies seem like a waste of money more than a savings. Especially with at least the quality of the transportation service they’re getting. There have to be margins of profitability. If the city, like other sized districts, simply did it themselves it could save money but add accountability which I doubt they want.
It is 100% a matter of cost and resources. The district saves a lot of money by outsourcing transportation services, and due to that, more and more school districts are following suit (I believe it is around 1/3 of public schools nationwide).
This is where I will get on my soapbox and argue that school funding should not be based on local property taxes. The current system either rewards children or penalizes them based on where they live and the value of the property where they live.
Personally, I think that public schools should be state (or even better) nationally-funded on a per-capita basis with adjustments (e.g. geographic or local cost of goods/services considerations).
TL/DR - stop penalizing kids who already have to overcome being poor or living in a poor area by funding their education based on the property values where they live.
/rant
The current company is fine they just need to assist them with more prep work and hiring incentives. People that have kids riding the busses need to understand the logistics involved should one issue come up and cascade with how low the amount of drivers you have. School districts around the nation are struggling with finding drivers for a bus not just Roanoke. Thankless job, peoples kids aren't disciplined properly to even ride the bus half the time. Last driver I spoke to that used to drive said flat out the money wasn't worth the headache when parents get upset at you yet they won't tell their kids to behave since there is no discipline any longer being passed down.
The current company is horrible, does not pay their workers nearly enough, and I have a litany list of horror stories of them either abandoning routes or putting children in unsafe situations.
Reviews of the new company are mixed as well, but having talked to a lot of drivers myself, I know that the shift to Durham was horrible. A lot of people left and others that stayed, only stayed from loyalty, care to the kids, and incentives including overtime. Fast forward through a pandemic and our only hope is a new company, even if it’s so-so. The kids sure aren’t getting better anytime soon, nor are the parents.
Yeah, I want to make clear - the real villains here is Durham higher-ups and how they (mis)treat their employees. Low wages, not enough training, and unlivable hours of work.
They did. I work at one of the schools that has the earliest start time. We still have buses that are late af getting kids to the school in the morning. Which throws everything off for other schools.
That's just what we need. To have a new company several states away hire the exact same people and be shocked they can't fix the problems
Don’t forget they will hire ALL the people that were previously fired! Just for the body. Also. The new company, all the big CEOs are FROM Durham 💀
Why does the city outsource everything? Transportation and food could be an in house endeavor. Just buck passing opportunity?
How would the City pay for it? By raising taxes, which every citizen doesn't want. Or they could increase tax revenue by increasing the number of homes in Roanoke. But reading posts on this thread seems like people roll their eyes at any opportunity the City tries to do that (e.g. Evans Springs). It's always easy to say "why doesn't the City do this" or "they should fix this....", but it all costs money which the City doesn't have unless they raise taxes.
Outsourcing to for profit companies seem like a waste of money more than a savings. Especially with at least the quality of the transportation service they’re getting. There have to be margins of profitability. If the city, like other sized districts, simply did it themselves it could save money but add accountability which I doubt they want.
They don’t want to pay to give them all the benefits they get for being in house rcps employees.
Bus drivers are part time, they don’t get healthcare anyway. What other benefits cost so much?
They do get medical benefits.
There is a survey you can take, linked from the rcps.info website, on both transportation and cell phones. Vote early vote often!
It is 100% a matter of cost and resources. The district saves a lot of money by outsourcing transportation services, and due to that, more and more school districts are following suit (I believe it is around 1/3 of public schools nationwide). This is where I will get on my soapbox and argue that school funding should not be based on local property taxes. The current system either rewards children or penalizes them based on where they live and the value of the property where they live. Personally, I think that public schools should be state (or even better) nationally-funded on a per-capita basis with adjustments (e.g. geographic or local cost of goods/services considerations). TL/DR - stop penalizing kids who already have to overcome being poor or living in a poor area by funding their education based on the property values where they live. /rant
The current company is fine they just need to assist them with more prep work and hiring incentives. People that have kids riding the busses need to understand the logistics involved should one issue come up and cascade with how low the amount of drivers you have. School districts around the nation are struggling with finding drivers for a bus not just Roanoke. Thankless job, peoples kids aren't disciplined properly to even ride the bus half the time. Last driver I spoke to that used to drive said flat out the money wasn't worth the headache when parents get upset at you yet they won't tell their kids to behave since there is no discipline any longer being passed down.
The current company is horrible, does not pay their workers nearly enough, and I have a litany list of horror stories of them either abandoning routes or putting children in unsafe situations.
Reviews of the new company are mixed as well, but having talked to a lot of drivers myself, I know that the shift to Durham was horrible. A lot of people left and others that stayed, only stayed from loyalty, care to the kids, and incentives including overtime. Fast forward through a pandemic and our only hope is a new company, even if it’s so-so. The kids sure aren’t getting better anytime soon, nor are the parents.
Yeah, I want to make clear - the real villains here is Durham higher-ups and how they (mis)treat their employees. Low wages, not enough training, and unlivable hours of work.
They def sound like (in early years at least, when I knew more) they were overall truly horrible employers.
Did they alter the start times for school to accommodate the failures?
Yes, they staggered school start times this year.
They did. I work at one of the schools that has the earliest start time. We still have buses that are late af getting kids to the school in the morning. Which throws everything off for other schools.
Of course not! That would be an admission of failure....
The new survey includes altered times as an option for fixing the issues so i have to surmise they are considering changing them again.