Letter to the editor: Asks locals to support NK bus and car drivers

As a school bus driver for New Kent County, I am writing this letter to ask residents of New Kent County for their support.

Due to budget cuts, our School Board has announced that some of the bus and car drivers will be faced with losing their benefits for the 2014-15 school year. Without benefits, many long time drivers will be forced to look for employment elsewhere.

Ron Stiers from the county’s Board of Supervisors has also requested that the School Board conduct a feasibility study on outsourcing the transportation department which would affect all drivers. The study has been done and the results have yet to be presented.

In the recent past, the transportation department purchased software to help manage our routes and check for areas that could be more efficient. The program showed that our routes were already 98.5% efficient. We, as drivers, are very concerned about the possibility of outsourcing. How can you make adjustments to a department that is already run very well and still saves the county money? Not without cutting the quality of the drivers. The question is do we entrust this job to just anyone?

Please show your support by joining the drivers at the next school board meeting on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. We also encourage you to write letters of support and give them to your bus or car driver. Have your children write notes or draw pictures. We will collect and present them to the school board at the meeting.

New Kent is a small, close knit community that has always pulled together and supported each other. We have highly skilled and compassionate drivers that are a major part of our children’s lives everyday. We can not afford to undermine or sacrifice their jobs.

Tansle Ferrell
New Kent