Howard schools superintendent says busing is improving as former driver criticizes Zum training

Sep. 11—Howard schools Superintendent Michael Martirano told the school board Thursday that bus service has continued to improve since the beginning of the school year Aug. 28.

On Wednesday, 82% of Zum Services buses arrived on time to their first school and 97% of buses arrived on time to their first stop, he said, compared with the first day of school, when morning buses were delayed or did not show up for some students attending at least 27 Howard schools. Daily delays and canceled routes have plagued the system since then.

Martirano said out-of-state drivers flown to the county to help resolve the California-based bus contractor's driver deficit will stay in the county until at least the beginning of next week as 72 other drivers work their way through Zum's hiring and training pipeline.

"I am pleased to learn today that Zum has 24 pre-certified drivers in their hiring pipeline," Martirano said Thursday. "[We] are hoping [they] will be available to come onboard on Monday. There are an additional 48 drivers currently in our class becoming certified."

Martirano also said local bus contractors Tip Top Transportation Inc., Woodlawn Motor Coach Inc., Y & L Transportation Co. Inc., Mina Transportation Inc. and Whitehead Glenwood G. have stepped in to service some of the 20 routes that had been canceled by Zum since Aug. 29.

"We have reached out to all of our local contractors, who were able to reinstate 12 of the 20 routes based on the additional buses and drivers that they had," Martirano said Thursday. "I'm extremely grateful and appreciative."

Meanwhile, former Zum employee Alan Bandler, 68, of Damascus, said he has concerns with Zum's training protocols. Bandler trained as a driver with Zum in Howard County for just over a month in May and June. He said the workplace felt disorganized and disjointed, and he often received conflicting instructions from different supervisors. The company's standard operating procedures did not seem sufficient compared to his past jobs, he said.

"It seemed very chaotic there," Bandler said. "They constantly had people coming in from the western side of the country and it seemed like not everybody was on the same page. ... They didn't seem to have their procedures and practices that well-honed, and I think part of that had to do with being in a new state. They didn't have their infrastructure established. I don't think they had procedures documented."

After a driver attains a Commercial Driver's License, "it's a vital component" for them to be supervised by an experienced bus driver on their first few days driving routes with students, Bandler said. For Bandler, being shadowed by an experienced driver was an important part of becoming qualified to drive a bus when he was employed by the Spotsylvania County school district in Virginia, he said.

"Once you get your CDL then you have to do time behind the wheel with students," Bandler said. "You actually have to run routes before you can run a route with students in the bus. These people are given no training, no experience before operating a 14-ton hunk of metal with 30, 40 or 50 kids on the bus — and that scares the crap out of me."

Zum spokesperson Jenny Mayfield admitted that the first few days of school in Howard County presented challenges for Zum drivers "due to the fact that the district provided the paper routes less than 48 hours before the first day of school which did not leave sufficient time for drivers to perform dry runs."

Mayfield said Zum conducted dry runs over the Labor Day weekend "so that drivers who were having issues could have confidence about their routes going into the second week of school."

Zum's training and certification requirements exceed those set by the state and the county, according to Mayfield, and said Bandler's characterization that it is a chaotic place to work was untrue.

"Every first time driver that Zum trains and certifies for HCPSS is required to go through 40 hours of classroom training taught by a Maryland State Department of Education certified trainer and conduct at least 25 hours of behind the wheel training before being tested and certified by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Compare that to the State of Maryland and Howard County requirements which only mandate only 18 hours of classroom training and 9 hours of behind the wheel training," Mayfield said.

Martirano said at Thursday's school board meeting that Zum provides thorough training and certification to its drivers, which is a process he is not willing to compromise on to fill vacancies more quickly. Route rehearsal is critical, he said, and new drivers are expected to perform "dry runs," which involve driving a bus route for practice without students on board.

"I cannot compromise all the training and the certification [that] needs to occur so that when the drivers are driving, they will have all the proper training," Martirano told school board members.

Mayfield said that dry runs are "an impactful part of (Zum's) training process. Once routes are assigned, all drivers are required to participate in dry runs to acclimate fully to their daily routes."

Bandler said he believes there are a few likely reasons why Zum was not able to hire enough drivers to deliver the routes promised.

"I think it had to do with them getting a late start on hiring," Bandler said, "and them taking too big of a bite out of the apple. I think it had to do with them thinking that they were going to inherit the ability to hire a lot of drivers from the contracts that were lost."

Bandler left Zum in favor of a bus driver job at a private school in another Maryland county, which pays him $1 less hourly but is 10 minutes closer to home. He said he sacrificed a $2,000 signing bonus and the chance to drive a brand-new, state-of-the-art bus when he left Zum. Bandler currently drives a bus with no air conditioning that is more than 15 years old.

"The people of Howard County have been dealt a very raw deal," Bandler said. "Some of it is Zum overpromising, some of it has to do with their own people. But the parents have been given a raw deal on this, and I'm sad to see it, but I'm so grateful that I went to this other school."

This is the first year Zum has provided bus service in Howard County. The company was awarded a three-year, $81 million contract by the school board in January.

The school system has agreements with 21 bus contractors to provide service on 503 routes this fall. Zum Services had 230 routes before the cancellations; Tip Top Transportation, based in Elkridge, has 58. The 19 other contractors based in the region split the remaining 215 routes.

According to its website, Zum offers Howard County drivers $26-$30 per hour depending on experience. Michael Bowen, who operated more than 50 Howard County Public School System routes last school year, said local contractors typically pay between $21.50 and $24 an hour.

To incentivize applicants, Zum will provide a $500 weekly bonus to drivers who go a month without an absence and an $8,000 sign-on bonus for certified bus drivers.

Martirano said the most significant logistical challenge that remains for Howard buses is traffic congestion at tier I schools (high schools), which causes a domino effect that results in more significant delays at elementary and middle schools in transportation tiers II and III, which have later start times.

Martirano said he has directed transportation staff to examine efficiencies in 32 routes that service Howard and Long Reach high school students exempt from being redistricted to attend the new Guilford Park High School, which could free up drivers to transport other students.

HCPSS staff are also filling 34 Zum bus attendant vacancies. Martirano said he hopes those spots will soon be staffed with prospective Zum drivers who have not yet completed their certification.

Originally Published: Sep 08, 2023 at 5:37 pm