A bus contract dispute that delayed the start of classes last month in the Elizabeth Forward School District took another turn on Monday, affecting several hundred students — at least for a day.
Pennsylvania Coach Lines, whose previous contract expired on June 30, told district officials on Monday that a temporary court-ordered deal to continue service is untenable, citing a shortage of qualified drivers.
The McKeesport-based company informed district officials that it would be unable to provide bus service for three of its 28 temporary routes on Monday, the company’s president and owner David L. Sunstein said. Roughly 350 students are assigned to those routes, he said, although it was unclear which schools were impacted.
One of those three routes will be back online Tuesday — “it’s progress,” he said.
The impacted routes, while temporary, reflect a broader challenge the company faces in retaining qualified drivers, an issue that afflicts district throughout the state, he said.
The district and company had operated under a three-week stopgap deal as of Aug. 20, ordered by Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge Christine Ward. The court continued that arrangement until further notice last week, and it was not immediately clear Monday whether the change in service violated that decree.
In a statement Monday, Mr. Sunstein said that he worked alongside drivers, mechanics and dispatchers in shuttling students and working multiple shifts each day to accommodate the district’s transportation needs.
“Unfortunately, while we have been working to the best of our ability to provide bus service for Elizabeth Forward students during the past three weeks, this arrangement is not sustainable,” he said in the statement.
The district has proposed a one-year contract, while Pennsylvania Coach Lines is seeking a multiyear deal, Mr. Sunstein said.
“I believe that parents and taxpayers alike will understand why operating a district-wide bus fleet without the foundation, mutual security and safeguards of a written multi-year contract is an unreasonable demand for any administration to make,” he said.
Reached by phone Monday morning, Superintendent Todd Keruskin said the ramifications — including whether the change is permissible under the court order — were not immediately clear and that the district would issue a statement later in the day. As of late Monday afternoon, that statement had not yet been issued.
More than 2,300 students rely on bus transportation in the district.
School Board President Thomas Sharkey Jr. said Monday that he heard from numerous parents who expressed displeasure with the short-notice bus cancellation.
"People are not happy. Parents are not happy. But they're not happy with PA Coach Lines," said Mr. Sharkey, who referred student-related questions to Mr. Keruskin.
Mr. Sharkey questioned why, in the midst of negotiations, the company would give the district virtually zero notice that it was unable to serve all bus routes.
Additionally, he asked why the company would seek a long-term contract if it is unable to serve all routes on a short-term arrangement, as was the case on Monday.
For his part, Mr. Sunstein said that his company learned early Monday morning that his company was short three drivers and alerted the district as soon as it could.
“We attempted at 5:30 to get a hold of the district and nobody on emergency contact list answered the phone,” he said. “It wasn't for a lack of trying.”
He declined to provide further details on why the drivers were unable to complete the routes.
The transportation clash reached an inflection point just before the scheduled start of the school year as the company and district disputed the terms of their transportation agreement.
Mr. Sunstein contended that a contract extension the school board approved last October was illegitimate because he never agreed to its terms. That extension was meant to renew the district’s partnership with the company through 2023.
Pennsylvania Coach Lines, however, claimed that the district owed more than $1 million for past service, and Mr. Sunstein said he did not agree to an extension. The company told the district on Aug. 2 that it would not transport students without a contract.
The district last month sued the company in civil court seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction, resulting in the stopgap order.
Under the initial three-week order, the district was required to pay Pennsylvania Coach Lines a daily rate of $346 per bus that transported 30 or more students, and $315 dollars per bus seating fewer than 30 students.
Mr. Sunstein said Monday that negotiations remain ongoing.
Matt McKinney: mmckinney@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1944, or on Twitter @mmckinne17.
First Published: September 16, 2019, 5:00 p.m.
Updated: September 16, 2019, 8:58 p.m.