School Bus Pact Awarded to Rival

One year after a monthlong bus drivers’ strike against Laidlaw Education Services that stranded thousands of schoolchildren, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted Thursday to give a third of that company’s routes to a competitor.

The board voted 5 to 1, with Jose Huizar voting against and Julie Korenstein abstaining, to give 250 routes to the Cincinnati-based First Student bus company, for at least five years at a cost of $12 million.

Officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District said the strike prompted them to further diversify the district’s bus contractors. They were also displeased by Laidlaw’s service, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Times.

“Laidlaw’s performance has been poor,” the memo stated. Laidlaw failed to cover some of its 786 routes and in-house district drivers have had to pick up the slack. A reduction in Laidlaw’s routes, the memo said, “will help Laidlaw improve its performance and become a successful vendor for the district.”

But Laidlaw Vice President Jim Ferraro complained that his company had some problems because the district kept hiring away drivers. “They’ve taken 300 of our drivers away over the last four years,” he said.

The Teamsters union, which had struck Laidlaw, has complained that First Student employs nonunion drivers. But district officials said that is not why the new contract was awarded and that Thursday’s vote should not be seen as anti-union.

Most board members and district staffers argued that, beyond questions about its performance, Laidlaw offered a less attractive contract proposal.

Bidders were asked to submit plans for three- and five-year contracts for buses with reduced emissions. Laidlaw offered a three-year proposal for older, regular diesel buses. First Student’s proposal also was for diesel buses, but with sulfur caps that reduce air pollution.

A 2001 study of California school buses found that children riding inside a diesel bus are exposed to four times the level of toxic fumes as someone riding in a car behind that bus.