Expect better school bus service, Y115 Board told

Yorkville School District students who takes the bus to school, should expect to see smoother routes and happier commutes this upcoming year.

Representatives from Septran, Y115's transportation provider, told school board members during a July 17 meeting that the company is working harder than ever to rectify mistakes of the past.

"In 2016-17 we had some challenges," said Septran General Manager Andy Reasor. He cited not setting early enough employee start-up dates, not properly training employees, and the lack of driver staffing as contributions to the transportation hiccups.

It's not easy, he noted, transporting students over 1.6 million miles during the course of a school year. That number doesn't include miles driven to and from field trips, sporting events and on summer school routes.

Now, going into another contract year with the district, Reasor said that last year's mistakes are being corrected, and the school year should start off better than last.

"We tore everyone's jobs apart. We re-purposed and re-trained," he said. "We're prepared for anything that comes our way...Septran is in a much better position technologically than ever before, and we are confident that the fantastic support we receive from the district will produce a smoother first day for the students."

This school year, instead of cramming start-up procedures into two weeks, the company is beginning the process on July 28 and will continue with mock days, dry runs, safety refreshers and other training until the start of school on Aug. 16.

"Now we're properly trained," Reasor said. "We have the right people in the right jobs."

The process of getting there, however, wasn't easy, he said.

Reasor said he worked to get the driver's wages set at $17/hour, an incentive that he hoped would attract quality team members.

"We hired a full-time recruiter," he said in his quest to get proper staffing. "We increased awareness in the community. Now you see Septran signs and banners. We're on the radio and at festivals. We had a great summer of recruiting."

As a result, Reasor said Septran is in a better position to kick-off the year. Over the summer, a total of 26 new drivers either received their CDL or are in the process of doing so as of mid-July.

In addition to hopefully smoother routes, Septran is adding free WiFi to its high school and activity buses. Reasor said this will provide students, athletes and others with the opportunity to work on homework while heading to and from events. Approximately six buses will be equipped initially, and more buses will follow, he said.