Peoria School District 150 will pay for bus drivers from Naperville-based First Student during the 2012 calendar year. What started out as a 90 day contract because of a shortage of bus drivers the start of this school year is now extended through this year by a 6-0 vote of the District 150 school board.

District 150 will pay a minimum of ten First Student drivers $33 an hour, but the district does not intend to use more than ten drivers.

Board member Debbie Wolfmeyer is not happy the contract will stay in place, even if District 150 is able to fully staff bus drivers. “I'm really disappointed this is for a year at a time,” Wofmeyer told Superintendent Grenita Lathan.

Lathan responded, “Keep in mind we're going to continue to hire drivers because I'll be very honest with you, we do not want the nightmare we had last August. We are still going to continue hire drivers.”

Wofmeyer continued, “Why would you still hire drivers for those ten routes (from First Student) if later you're going to get rid of them?”

“Subs,” Lathan says, “there are days we still need substitute drivers. They are back-ups to the back-ups.”

Wolmeyer added, “They are awful expensive back-ups to the back-ups.”

District 150 Transportation Director Anthony Mendosa tells the board, “We do need substitute drivers to fill those routes because of absences and illness.”

Mendosa continues, “Yes, they are expensive back-ups to the back-ups but these kids need to get to school and until we find people who are knocking on our doors to come in this is what we need to do.”

Lynette Lee, president of AFSCME Local 3716 which represents District 150 bus drivers, is not surprised it's come to this. But, Lee says the district could have avoided it by doing more early in the process.

“(District 150) could have used the money it's paying to First Student and maintained the employees they already had,” Lee tells 1470 WMBD.

“There were a lot of people who left the district because of not being treated right and not being paid a comparable wage to other people in the area.”

The board approved the contract on a vote of 6-0 with board member Martha Ross absent.

In other action, the board gave the okay to the administration to put the vacant Blaine-Sumner and Keller East school buildings up public auction as well as a vacant lot near Antionette and Blaine.

District 150 Comptroller/Treasurer David Kinney says there appears to be at least one party interested in purchasing the Blaine-Sumner school property and a separate party interested in buying the vacant lot.