District 118 Stays with First Student for Busing; New App for Parents in the Works

News story here.

The current school year began with incredibly negative reviews about First Student’s performance in providing bus transportation for District 118 students.  Then, on February 1st, although First Student was the lowest of two bidders for a new busing contract, the school board voted them down and asked for more improvement.  But during Tuesday evening’s (April 12th) board meeting; First Student, again the lowest of two bidders, received a 6-0 vote of approval.  Retiring board member Johnnie Carey, one of First Student’s harshest critics, abstained from voting.

The amount the district is paying for the service will actually go up 10.8% in the first year of the new two year deal.  Assistant Superintendent John Hart echoed First Student’s explanation that a new law, signed by governor Pritzker, provoked this.

AUDIO: Requires that all bus drivers, regardless of full-time or part-time status, receive 40 hours worth of paid time off per year.  So, obviously, they’re not going to absorb that cost.  So it’s typically passed down to the consumer; which is us, the school district.

First Student Senior Location Manager Nick Sori said the app “First View” will be rolled out towards the end of the school year for pilot testing, and should be available to all parents who have students riding buses by the new school year.  It will be available on the App Store, and parents will need a code for their particular student.

AUDIO: We’re going to work closely with Mr. Hart to get that rolled out to parents at the school that we’re going to pilot, to make sure that the systems are linking through the GPS of the vehicles; and make sure that it is giving accurate data to the parents.

First Student will likely send out a flyer with the sign up information, which will also be placed on the District 118 website.

North Ridge Middle School 8th grader DaNale Mott entertains the District 118 Board and audience by performing a song in Italian, as Principal Ms. Brooks of North Ridge listens.

It was also announced that the reorganization meeting for the District 118 Board will now be on May 10th.  There will be a regular meeting on April 26th, as they work on the legalities of the two-year board position that needs to be appointed.