Anaheim Bus Firm Prepares to Roll Into Court Against Districts

An Anaheim school bus company set the stage for yet another round of lawsuits with several large Southland school districts Thursday, renewing old claims about unfair treatment.

Taylor Bus Service filed multimillion-dollar administrative claims for damages against Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Ana, and San Jose Unified School Districts, according to its lawyer, Bobby D. Youngblood.

Taylor, which employed 1,300 people last year, provides partial bus service for more than 100 districts in California. All four districts named have either canceled contracts or have threatened to cancel for the upcoming school year unless Taylor provides adequate liability insurance for its operations.

Tom Berthold, Taylor president, said the company has provided adequate insurance and hinted that a conspiracy exists among districts to drive it out of business. Taylor is already involved in lawsuits stemming from earlier contracts with the districts in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose.

On Saturday, Taylor received notice from Los Angeles Unified that it was canceling contracts for several hundred buses, Berthold said.

District spokesman Bill Rivera confirmed that the district advised Taylor it has canceled contracts involving 184 buses. Ninety Taylor buses under other contracts will be used in the upcoming school year. About half of the district’s 2,000 buses are provided under contract.

The cancellation was based on concerns over insurance coverage, as well as continued concerns relating to the existing litigation, Rivera said.

Last year, Los Angeles Unified officials decided Taylor failed to provide adequate insurance. They bought independent coverage for $260,000, and reduced payments to Taylor by that amount. Berthold and Youngblood asked Los Angeles County District Attorney Ira Reiner to investigate the transaction.

Spokesmen for the prosecutor could not be reached for comment. Representatives of the other three districts could not be reached for comment.