The DPS Bus Saga: A Timeline

Classified pay dispute kicks off a year of chaos

Mechanics and other classified staff go on strike after learning they won’t be getting promised raises. Though not impacted by the pay debacle, bus drivers call out of work en masse, out of either solidarity with coworkers or discomfort over driving without mechanics’ support. As a result, DPS cancels numerous bus routes over several days, urging families to drive their own children to school.

New superintendent Anthony Lewis takes the wheel

In his first DPS board meeting, Lewis foreshadows that “there will be some bus delays,” on the first day of school, “but as time goes on we will definitely be more efficient.”

First day of school, first day of transportation crisis

Increased ridership and a driver shortage leave families waiting for buses that never arrive. Administrative staff leave their office posts to help drive the buses. Representatives for the district say that they are short 30 drivers, but that 32 candidates are “in the queue” for driver training and testing, a process which should take approximately two months.

“Consistently, and I mean almost every day, either the bus doesn’t stop for [my son], the bus doesn’t show up, or we get a message a bus is two hours late,” says DPS parent Jane Dornemann.

Rotational bus service begins

Each of the district’s routes are sorted into one of five groups that do not receive bus service on a single predetermined day each week. The temporary plan, which gets mixed reviews from families, is an attempt to bring some consistency to the chaos and at least allow parents to plan ahead. It also allows daily service for those who receive exceptional children and McKinney-Vento (homeless student) services.

“I never want to take my eye off the ball, [which] is to get every kid to school on time on a consistent basis. That is the long term goal for all of us.” Mathew Palmer, director of operational services tells the board.

Bus drivers join Durham Association of Educators to accuse superintendent Lewis of “union-busting”

Outside the school board’s meeting, demonstrators tie the transit and pay crises to a lack of worker input in school system decisions and urge the board to approve the union’s “meet and confer” process. But the union accuses the superintendent of “union-busting” in a disagreement over exactly who should be invited to the meetings between staff and administration.

“What we are facing in transportation is just a symptom of a districtwide problem–lack of real worker voice and management accountability,” bus driver Retha Daniel-Ruth says at a press conference.

Family responsibility zones replace rotational bus service, despite board concerns

Until further notice, students who live within 1.5 miles of 21 elementary schools are no longer provided transit to or from school. Any student older than pre-K is allowed to walk or bike alone. Board members approve the measure, but some worry about student safety along the specific routes selected by staff.

We’re trading—in my head—one set of eggs that are rotting for another set of eggs that are rotting,” says board member Joy Harrell Goff. “I feel like we got one bandaid that’s not quite working yet. Do we switch one for the other? I don’t know.”