Schools

Urbandale School Officials Mindful of Complaints Against Bus Service

Complaints deal primarily with late stops and frequent personnel changes.

After a neighboring school district pulled a driver from a route in response to parental concerns, the Urbandale school district has stepped up its monitoring of drivers for the private Durham Bus Services, which  provides transportation services for the district.

The concerns in Urbandale are mostly related to late stops and the frequency with which drivers are changed on specific routes, the Des Moines Register reports. Newly elected board member Aaron Applegate said he has received multiple complaints from parents about Durham. Earlier in the school year, at least five different drivers were assigned to a single route, he said.

A Durham bus driver was removed from a Waukee route last month after he allegedly took a group photo of students on the bus and shared his contact information with two girls and asked them to pass it along to teachers. The Dallas County Attorney’s Office determined there was not sufficient evidence to pursue charges against the driver, according to the newspaper.

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Urbandale began a three-year contract with Durham in May after the district ended its relationship with First Student Inc. Urbandale and Waukee worked together in the bidding process to save money.

Urbandale Superintendent Doug Stilwell told the newspaper the school increased its expectations of Durham. “We’ve fielded more questions and phone calls than we ever thought we would have to,” he said. “They work for us. We aren’t going to let this go.”

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Urbandale will pay Durham nearly $700,000 for regular, special education and shortened routes this school year, and pricing will increase by about 2.5 percent for each of the remaining years of the contract.

Board member Cate Newberg said that if the company is to receive the negotiated increases, late routes will have to be addressed, according to the newspaper.


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