Letter to the Editor: Says letter is meant to “set the record straight”

The February 20 issue of the Chronicle provided extensive coverage of the School Board meeting addressing the possible outsourcing of school transportation. A portion of that article was devoted to comments the superintendent made after the decision was reached on the issue relating to a letter I had written. I want to set the record straight concerning that letter.

I wrote it as the citizen representative on the county’s finance committee for a committee meeting that was to take place two days after the school board meeting. I have to wonder about the intent of commenting on a letter written for a meeting that had not yet taken place?

Furthermore, the superintendent’s characterization of the contents of my letter was inaccurate and misleading. The letter did not recommend outsourcing. It recommended that the board of supervisors have an independent analysis conducted to ensure that there was a fair and objective assessment of an option that could benefit taxpayers. After all, it is taxpayer money, not the school board’s, that is being spent.

The statement that I “asked the board of supervisors to take control of outsourcing transportation for the school system” was incorrect. What I said was, “I believe that this issue is too important to be decided just by the school board.” (emphasis added)

The statement that I said “we need to be more efficient” was also incorrect and taken out of context. My statement was a comment about outsourcing in general: “Outsourcing is a way to improve services, increase efficiency, and control costs…”

My letter to the finance committee did not advocate outsourcing. It gave my reasons why it should be given serious consideration. It is an accepted management approach that is used by both the private and public sectors. I drew attention to the city of Sandy Springs, Georgia where the city manager has often stated that they outsourced everything except public safety.

My advocacy is for fiscal responsibility and for examining ways to use taxpayer dollars more effectively. Unless the school board conducted a detailed comparative analysis, including contacting some of the 17 states that have outsourced school transportation, taxpayers were shortchanged on due diligence.

Bill O’Keefe
Providence Forge